HIGHWORTH Town manager Jeff Roberts is hoping for an entertaining Wiltshire derby in Southern League Division One South when his side travel to Melksham Town on Saturday.

The Worthians inflicted Melksham’s second league defeat of the season back in late November – when Kieran Baggs’ team were putting together a potentially promotion-winning campaign – thanks to two late goals in an eventful 3-1 victory.

Baggs was sent off early on in that game for speaking disrespectfully to the referee, but Roberts is hoping both sets of players will do the talking on the pitch this time around.

With only a record high finish to play for over the final few months of the season, Roberts hopes treating this game like any other will aid his side in their quest to complete a league double over Melksham.

Roberts said: “It’s a local derby, so these are the games you look forward to. We did well at home against them earlier in the season, scoring two late goals.

“They’re a very good side too, there’s no doubt about that, and their surface is very good, so that will suit us.

“We’ll approach this in the same way as any other league game – it will be another opportunity for us to get three points and we’ll try to keep climbing the league and see where we can finish in our first season in the Southern League.

“I know it’s a local derby – the players might look at it differently – but for me, it’s no different to any other game.

“It’s about how we conduct ourselves and as long as we go about our own game and set up right, I do think it will be quite an entertaining game.”

Highworth will be without in-form Darren Jefferies for their trip to Melksham as he begins the first game on his three-match suspension.

Roberts will be hoping his two new attacking acquisitions, Swindon Town’s Jordan Young and ex-Swindon Supermarine striker Josh Parsons, can fill the void left by the midfielder by continuing to do what they do best – score goals.

Roberts said: “Darren got sent off last weekend, which is a shame because he has being playing well.

“Jordan and Josh know where the net is, though, so hopefully they can do the job for us.”