SUFFERING with a heavy cold he may have been, but his side’s lofty position in the Southern League Premier Division table is proving just the tonic for Chippenham Town manager Mark Collier heading into the second half of the season.

Saturday’s 1-0 Hardenhuish Park triumph over fellow promotion hopefuls Hitchin Town took the Bluebirds back up to third place and Collier admits he could not have dared hope for more with festive derbies against Cirencester Town and Frome Town looming.

“To lose just four games by this stage of the season is more than a decent start,’’ he said.

“There is lots of football to be played, of course, but we have put ourselves in a good position.

“We’ve picked up some points we shouldn’t have done and lost some we should have got and there are going to be highs and lows before the end of the season but we’ve got to be happy.’’

Collier is confident he can use the experience of last season - when Town made a similar fine start but eventually fell away to miss out on the play-offs - to ensure a more satisfying outcome this time around.

“I certainly have,’’ he said, when asked if he had learned lessons from the previous campaign.

“It’s important not to focus on more than one game at a time and not look too far ahead.

“There will be games where you think you should be getting three points, but sometimes one point will do."