FROME Town boss Darren Perrin thinks it will take some time before the true picture in the bottom third of the Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division becomes clear.

The Robins currently sit 17th in the table, five points ahead of second-from-bottom Redditch United, who have four games in hand.

But Perrin believes there are plenty of twists and turns to come in the battle to stay in the division and that games in hand don’t guarantee points on the board.

“Some people are looking at ourselves and Chippenham and saying that the teams below us have games in hand but we’ve already got the points,” said the Frome manager.

“Those teams have all got to play each other so they can’t all win. In a few weeks’ time, I think the table will become a lot clearer.”

Perrin was delighted to welcome Luke Ballinger back to Frome after re-signing the winger from rivals Chippenham Town last Friday.

“Luke loves the club and we’re very happy to have him back,” said the Robins boss.

“He wanted to go to Chippenham and try something new at the start of the season and we were disappointed at the time but having players that want to come back to the club means that we must be doing something right.”

On Wednesday evening, Frome were well-beaten at home by play-off chasers St Albans City.

Chris Seeby opened the scoring for the visitors before Chris Henry doubled their lead just after half time.

James Colmey added a third with the last kick of the game.

Last Saturday, Perrin’s men ended the afternoon with ten men but earned a point at Chesham United.

Matt Smith pounced to fire the Robins ahead after Ricky Hulbert’s shot was saved in the 18th minute but the hosts’ Steve Wales levelled up the scores early in the second half.

With 83 minutes on the clock, Chesham’s John Kyriacou was shown a straight red for kicking out at debutant Ballinger, with Frome’s Josh Brigham also given his marching orders for his part in the ensuing melee.

Perrin added: “I was actually quite disappointed that we didn’t come back with a win because we had chances.

“Ballinger hit the crossbar with a shot from 30 yards and we had a great shout for a penalty turned down (when Mark Cooper went down under the challenge on Shane Gore).”

Frome host third-placed Stourbridge tomorrow.