MANAGER Steve Burr believes Kidderminster Harriers have closed the gap on the Blue Square Bet Premier’s big-spenders as he prepares for Saturday’s promotion contender clash against Luton Town at Aggborough.

Burr’s troops go into the game (3pm kick-off) in fifth place just ahead of Luton, who were hotly tipped as title favourites in the summer.

While the campaign is still young, Harriers have been one of the division's most consistent performers, despite having a much smaller budget compared to the likes of York, Fleetwood and Saturday's opponents.

Under Gary Brabin’s stewardship, the Bedfordshire outfit have yet to hit their stride, despite Saturday's 5-1 win over Barrow, but Burr believes the visitors will provide one of the toughest challenges yet.

“We always raise our game against teams such as Luton and I have no doubt the lads are relishing this clash,” commented Burr.

“With all the fans they are going to bring, Luton are going to add to the great atmosphere we already have, and I know the players will really respond to that.

“We go into the game one place ahead of them so we can build a bit of a gap if we win.

“Because of who they are, everyone expects them to run away with the league but they are in a good position.

“If somebody had said to me at the start of the season we’d be in fifth place at this stage I would have been very happy.”

With Luton set to bring an estimated 800 to 1,000 fans at the weekend, followed by the first home derby of the campaign on Tuesday against newly-promoted AFC Telford (7.45pm kick-off), Harriers are expecting two of the biggest attendances of the campaign.

With two big home clashes, Burr's side will be hoping to find more potency at Aggborough. Twice in the last three Hoo Road matches, they've been denied by late-gasp levellers.

The manager blamed the draws on his young side’s attacking overenthusiasm.

He said: “Against the likes of Alfreton and Southport we’ve shown a lot of patience to grind the opposition down and get the wins.

“But when we’ve been in a winning position we’ve not always known the best way to run the game down and make sure we win. I think the players are so keen to attack and score goals, which sometimes catches us out.

“If we had some of the more experienced players from last season in the side it might have been different against Ebbsfleet or Grimsby.

“The squad we’ve got is a lot younger than last year and sometimes they have to hold on rather than give the ball away.”

Burr will be boosted by the availability of striker Steve Guinan and midfielder Kyle Storer after the pair served suspensions, while Jack Byrne is a doubt with a virus.