MELKSHAM Town boss Kieran Baggs says he still has further work to do as he continues to trim his squad for their inaugural Southern League campaign.

On Tuesday, Melksham overcame a youthful Chippenham Park side 4-1 at Hardenhuish Park, their third pre-season game in a week after they also faced Malmesbury Victoria and Chippenham Town.

Jon Davies, Rob Hobbs, Gary Higdon and Michael Plummer completed the scoring as they prepare to face Corsham Town at the weekend, where Baggs will begin to fine tune his troops.

“We have Corsham on Saturday and then probably our most realistic friendly on Thursday when we have Taunton Town,” said Baggs, who states sustainability is on the forefront of everyone’s mind at the club.

“In that game I will be looking to play my strongest 11, see who is on the cusp of the squad and who doesn’t have enough.

“You have to take the games into account in retrospect to your league. For example, the Swindon Town and Bristol Rovers games are exhibitions for the club.

“You have to look at who is performing in training as well and then you start trimming your squad down to around 17 players.

“After that you start looking at who is going to make the 16 for the matchday. The biggest thing for me this season has been squeezing everyone in to a tight budget.

“That has been the biggest issue for us this season. If it was bigger, we would have been able to attract players with plenty of Southern League experience.

“I’m happy with the budget I have been allocated. It is more than workable with the aims we have for the year.

“Darren (Perrin, chairman) just wants sustainability and for us to stay in the league, it’s important we are prepared. We need to hit the ground running. “

While Baggs admits he needs to lose a few players from the group, he says there is still potential for late movement as teams up and down the football pyramid complete their squads.

The Melksham manager is hoping that could work in his favour, as he looks to exploit a relationship with Chippenham Town’s Mark Collier.

“It will be the same as a lot of the clubs up and down the country,”said Baggs.

“League Two players might drop down, then it’s a knock-on affect so hopefully we can benefit from teams like Chippenham Town.

“I have a good relationship with Mark Collier. He helped us with loans last season so hopefully we maintain that.”