"Now it's time to be consistent" - Jordan Keane on what Town will need in their promotion push

The FC Halifax Town defender has reached the play-offs with Stockport, losing in the semi-finals, and achieved two promotions with The Hatters, securing him club legend status in the process.

After a slow start to life at The Shay, Keane is now a regular first-teamer at the heart of the Halifax defence, and has played an important role in Town currently sitting on the fringes of the National League's top seven.

"I think we're doing well, I think we're doing as much as we can but at this present moment we're still a work in progress I'd say," he told the Courier.

"I'd definitely say there's more to come but overall, being in and around the play-offs, most people would have accepted that at the start of the year.

"Now it's time to be consistent and remain there until the end of the season."

What has Keane's experience of winning promotions taught him about what it takes?

"A resilient changing room, togetherness and a bit of tunnel vision really," he reflected.

"Now, for example, it's a case of, yeah we've had a bit of a blip at the weekend, but we've said it before when we have lost, you're not going to win every game, you're not going to play well every game.

"But you've got to be resilient enough to realise that, right, it's a one off, the next game we go again and we try and remain consistent with our performance levels and hopefully the results."

Keane was unequivocal when asked if he felt Town had what it takes to achieve it.

"Definitely yeah. There is a chance, you can sniff a chance this season, probably more than the last three or four, to make those play-offs," he said.

"I know Halifax made the play-offs two seasons back in a tough league that year.

"This year, it's up for grabs. There's a lot of teams going for it but we just need to make sure we're one of them.

"I think we've got a hungry young squad, if you compare to other squads

"I'm not saying that's the be all and end all, because there are older squads that might say something different and there's pros and cons to it all.

"But I think it works in our favour. We've got a good, hungry young squad who want to do well individually and collectively."

Keane feels the belief is there among the Town squad that promotion can be done.

"I think there is but it's important to remain level-headed with it all and not try and look too far ahead and think 'end goal is play-offs come the end of April'," he cautioned.

"Yeah, that's it, but there's a lot of work to do in the mean time, and still a long time until the end of April.

"I say it quite a lot and so do the management, but as long as you're consistent and, I know it's a cliché, but focusing game-by-game, and you've got your own plan and you know where you stand as a team, then you do have a chance.

"But you can't look too far ahead in football."

Consistency is the fast-track to success in football, and in a division as competitive as the National League, stringing some positive results together can quickly get a team where they want to be.

"You could sit down with the lads at Chesterfield and I'm sure they'd say they're not happy with some of the stuff they've been doing, and they're looking to improve," Keane said.

"We're no different, there's definitely times where I look at my own game and say 'what can I improve on?'.

"As soon as you stop thinking that way you become a bit stale and you don't get the results you want.

"We want to keep as many clean sheets as possible and maintain that defensive record.

"I'm sure the midfielders and strikers will have their own goals and as a team, we've definitely got our own objectives."

On whether Halifax would need improve on what they've produced so far this season to make the top seven, Keane said: "I don't think you can ever rest on your laurels, we've got a lot to improve but it's a results business so if we do as well as we have been doing then we should be in and around it.

"But if we do more, it's only going to bode well for ourselves, it's not going to take anything away from us, so we're definitely looking to improve."

The P word doesn't seem to be a hot topic of conversation yet among the players at The Shay, but that could change in a couple of months as the season nears its conclusion.

"I think it happens in most squads if you're in and around the play-offs, it's natural for the lads to talk about it," Keane said.

"I'd be surprised if any individual didn't think about it because that's the aim of the game.

"It might be different if we're in a similar situation going into the last month of the season, it might ramp up a bit, but at the minute it's just week-on-week."