LEE Spalding isn’t at all surprised by Swindon Supermarine’s current Southern League Prem-ier Division position, and he insists he has a squad in place to deliver a good season for the club on the field.

Marine have picked up a remarkable 21 points out of a possible 24 in their last eight league fixtures – a run that has catapulted the club up to fourth in non-league’s third tier.

A golden chance to add to that impressive tally presents itself to Spalding’s men this week-end as they travel to bottom side Beaconsfield, who have accumulated just nine points from their first 15 fixtures.

Quietly optimistic about stringing together more impressive runs this term, the Marine chief insists a typically cliché game-by-game approach is the most appropriate way to bring the best out of his players.

He said: “Our aim at the start of the season was to make sure we progressed from last year.

“The more the season has gone on, and the more I have seen the team at this level, I’m un-der the impression that we’re capable of beating anyone on our day.

“It’s about taking it game-by-game and ensuring our mentality is right. If we do that, we have a strong chance of having a good season.

“Where that could take us, I don’t know. I’m not going to say we’re going to go on and win the league.

“But I am confident we’ve got a good chance of competing in this league.”

Though Marine boast the strongest form of any side in the Southern League Premier Divi-sion, the club’s shock FA Trophy loss to Thatcham last month still rings in Spalding’s ears.

That three-goal Trophy defeat epitomises how any team’s form can suddenly drop if set standards aren’t applied.

Such standards are expected to remain at an appropriate level on Saturday.

“Beaconsfield’s league position at the moment isn’t great,” said Spalding.

“But we won’t read into that. We’ll show the same mentality, approach and energy – we want to continue our good recent form so nothing will change.

“It’s a case of making sure we are ready and that we are right. Our recent form is down to players working hard and their attitude.

“We lost to Thatcham in the FA Trophy, that loss came out of the blue – we were in good form before that.

“You can learn more from your defeats than when you win. When you get beat, you can sometimes see where you can improve.”