Cirencester Town manager, Neil Hards, has challenged his team to collect as many points as possible from a run of eight or nine matches against their closest rivals in the Southern League Premier Division.

Few points separate these teams which means that, should Town collect as many points as possible from the games, they would propel themselves even further away from the relegation zone and towards a top ten place.

The first such fixture arrives this Saturday when Cirencester, 13th in the league, face Banbury United who are one place below them in 14th.

Hards said: "We've got a run of eight or nine games against sides that are all around us at the moment.

"It's important to pick up as many points as possible against these teams."

Optimistic his team will rise to the challenge, Hards promised to take the game to Banbury.

He said: "We're looking good going forward and we're scoring goals.

"We've got some concerns at the back but we'll try to iron those out."