CHIPPENHAM Town manager Mark Collier has delivered a ‘catch us if you can’ message to the chasing pack in the Southern League Premier Division.

The Bluebirds had to dig deep at Hardenhuish Park to break down a determined Dunstable Town side, with Dave Pratt’s second-half penalty proving the difference on the day.

The victory puts Chippenham seven points clear at the summit with their nearest challengers, Leamington, having two games in hand.

Although a play-off place is not mathematically guaranteed, Collier is confident of at least being in the post-season picture and having seen his side go on an 18-game unbeaten run, which dates back to the beginning of December, to put them in the driving seat, he is starting to dream of the title.

“We feel as though we are under pressure, but so do the other five or six teams that are below us,” he said.

“I still think there will be some twists and turns to come but at this moment in time, we are in good shape and good form.

“We’re on 82 points with eight games to go and the bottom line is, if we didn’t win another game, we’d still be in the play-offs.

“That was the number one objective set by the chairman (Neil Blackmore) and now we need to be as high up the top five as we possibly can.

“The others need to catch us and we know we are there to be shot at and we need to continue churning out results.

“Only one team can win the league and why can’t it be us.”

The deciding moment on Saturday came in the 63rd minute, when Joe McClennan’s cross was going away from goal but was needlessly handled by Dunstable’s Nathan Olukanmi.

Pratt took over the spot kick duties on Saturday from strike partner Andy Sandell, who failed to come out in the second half after aggravating a groin injury, and finished with aplomb to the delight of Collier.

“They got lots of people behind the ball and played like a proper away side and made it difficult for us,” he added.

“We started the game in a bit of a laborious manner and needed to set a bit of a tempo.

“Once we got on top, we were a force to be reckoned with and we could have scored a couple more.

“There were a few scary moments at the end when they threw their centre-backs up for every set-piece.

“The scoreline, although only 1-0, was a little bit more comfortable than it may suggest.”

However, the game took its toll physically on the hosts with Gary Horgan (hamstring) and Alex Ferguson (knee) following Sandell to the treatment room.

With an extra day rest, Chippenham are not in action until Sunday at Hayes and Yeading United, Collier is hoping to get as many back fit in that time.