MARK Collier is confident that if his Chippenham Town side maintain their high standards, they will be happy travellers in the coming weeks.

The Bluebirds stormed into the third qualifying round of the FA Cup by demolishing higher-league Poole Town 4-1 last Saturday and have been handed a trip to Essex to take on Isthmian League outfit Billericay Town on Saturday, October 1.

Before that, Collier’s Southern League Premier Division promotion-chasers must tackle a lengthy journey to King’s Lynn Town this weekend, which is followed by an away fixture at Dorchester Town next Tuesday.

Chippenham will be clocking up plenty of miles but the Hardenhuish Park boss sees no reason why his troops can’t stay the course.

“If we can try and keep eight or nine players putting in eight or nine-out-of-ten performances every week, then we’ll keep winning football matches,” said Bluebirds manager Collier.

“We try and keep our preparation consistent and we’ve got some tough trips coming up but if we can keep doing what we’ve been doing, then we’ll be able to hold on to our lofty position in the league and progress in the FA Cup.

“King’s Lynn is our longest trip of the season but we’re used to the travelling in this division.

“It’s a good place to go and play but we don’t have a good record there – we’ll concentrate on that game first and move on from there.”

Chippenham’s next FA Cup opponents Billericay have reached the first round of the country’s most famous cup competition three times, most recently in November 2007 when they lost 2-1 to then-League One Swansea City.

Collier admits that next month’s clash in Essex will be a step into the unknown for his team but sees no reason why his the Bluebirds can’t overcome Ricay.

He added: “We would have preferred a home draw but we have to go away and there’s no reason why we should have any fear about this match.

“We’ll try and have them watched on Saturday or next Tuesday.”

Striker David Pratt, who scored his fifth goal in four games during last weekend’s win over Poole, will miss Saturday’s trip to King’s Lynn as he serves a one-match suspension for his red card in last week’s loss to Banbury United while Conor McCormack and Michael Pook are injury doubts.