HIGHWORTH manager John Fisher has declared the Elms a fortress ahead of his title-chasing side’s clash with Wantage on Saturday.

Fisher admits the second-placed Alfredians were his pick for the Hellenic League Premier Division title this season, but believes his team are favourites to win tomorrow.

“If you spoke to their manager he’d say he’d take a point. Let’s face it, no one likes coming to Highworth,” said Fisher.

“If we get six points from the two games against Wantage and Highmoor we’ll be right in there. I said to the lads that we’ve got 12 games left and if we win 10 of them we’ll win the league.

“With the players we’ve got, we’re capable of going on a good run, it’s a case of avoiding injuries and suspensions. It’s a tall order but it’s all possible.

“Let’s just hope we don’t get any more games cancelled because then we could be in trouble.”

Meanwhile, Wootton Bassett are scheduled to take on Cheltenham Saracens at the Corinium tomorrow afternoon but with heavy rain forecast for today, boss Jeff Roberts is not confident the fixture will go ahead.

“If rain does come in on Friday then I think we’ll be struggling,” he said.

“It has helped that Ciren’s game (against Swindon Supermarine) was called off on Tuesday night and the pitch does drain quite well, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

With recent signings Richie Miles and Callum Parsons added to the ranks, Roberts says the Bassett camp are in buoyant mood, however.

“We’ve strengthened up again so there’s competition for places,” the Bassett manager said.

“There’s a little bit of a buzz about the place as we’re unbeaten in the last eight (in the league) and the players are starting to do what we want them to.”

Elsewhere, Shrivenham boss Dave Turner is taking a different approach to the fixture backlog, giving his side a weekend off to refresh ahead of their upcoming hectic schedule.

He said: “We’ve now got a run of games coming where we play Saturday-Wednesday pretty much till the end of the season, so we decided against getting the team in this Saturday.

“We’ve had the new boys Lee Bowen and Steve Hall training and they looked good and fitted in with the team style and personality-wise.”

Swindon Supermarine target Dan Drewett will get a run out in Shrivvy’s reserves as he was cup-tied last time out.