HIGHWORTH Town manager Jeff Roberts insists facing Southern League Division One South table-toppers Yate Town away from home tomorrow will provide his men with a timely challenge.

Town earned promotion from the Hellenic League Premier Division last season and have experienced a positive start to their fourth-tier campaign, losing only one of their opening eight fixtures.

Draws against promotion-chasing Blackfield and Langley plus Evesham Town last weekend have blended well with the club’s five-goal win against defending FA Vase champions Thatcham Town.

With an impressive run of league form behind them, Roberts insists the Yate challenge will be good for his squad – though he highlighted the physical danger Yate will possess.

He said: “It possibly is the right time to face Yate. The boys are working hard and we know this will be a tough season.

“After Yate, we have Winchester, so that’s another tough game. We might as well get them out of the way now and pick up points in those games.

“We’re on a high at the moment, we’ve just got to keep pedalling along.

“We’ve just got to go about our game, there’s no point in worrying about them.

“We’re on a bit of high, so as long as we can continue to work hard on the pitch then we will be going in the right direction.

“Yate are on a good run themselves though, so it will be another good test for us – just like I thought Evesham would be last weekend.

“We played very well against Evesham, but we didn’t have the finishing touches to earn three points.

“We’re going to Yate under no illusions, they are a good side. If we can perform and work hard on the day then we’ll give them a strong game.”

Despite their promising start, Roberts admits points have been dropped in recent weeks – particularly during last week’s eventual 4-4 draw away at Evesham.

Two goals in the concluding 15 minutes of the game rescued a point for Evesham, something which Roberts doesn’t want his side to repeat again.

Keeping switched on therefore is a message the Highworth boss will be relaying to his troops before, during and after tomorrow’s fixture.

“Our only downside at the moment is that we’re not killing off games,” said Roberts.

“You could argue we should have recorded another four points from our last two games.

“The season is early though, and we’re going in the right direction so we can’t complain too much.”