CHIPPENHAM Town chief Mark Collier says he will have no problem keeping his troops motivated despite only the comfort of mid-table to play for over the final two months of the season.

The Bluebirds sit 11th in the National League South table with eight games to go, starting with a home match against St Albans City on Saturday.

The prospect of promotion via the play-offs looks a long shot for Chippenham as they are currently 10 points below the top seven, while they are well clear of the threat of relegation.

Although only moving up or down a few places is Town’s sole concern over the concluding stages of the campaign, Collier says the chance of a top-10 finish in only their second season at National League level is enough to keep everyone at the club hungry.

Collier said: “We want to be positive right until the end of the season. There are places up for grabs and the players are looking for deals for next season.

“We have proved we can be very competitive in this division, so we need to continue in that manner.

“The players are being paid to do a job and the supporters come to be entertained and also see a winning team.

“We need to make sure we produce performances week in, week out. That’s from me right down to the kit man.

“We want to win every game. Nothing changes whether it’s the first game of the season or the last, in that regard.

“We owe that to ourselves and the chairman and the supporters. There will be no problem with motivation from myself or the players.

“It is a great league that we are in. I’m sure the players want to be in it but they need to prove to me that they want to be part of the ongoing progression at Chippenham Town.”

The Bluebirds face the side immediately above them in the table when they welcome St Albans to Hardenhuish Park on Saturday.

After a 2-0 loss at Woking last time out, Collier says victory this weekend will go a long way to aiding Town’s push for a top-10 finish.

“St Albans will be difficult opponents. They have still got a chance at the play-offs, so they will want to push on for that,” said Collier.

“It is another good test for us and one we will hopefully overcome. It would be nice to get another home victory.

“People talk about second-season syndrome and a lot of former Southern League clubs have lost their National League status.

“We didn’t want to do that and we have done very well this season. There are still 24 points to play for and we want to get as many as we can.”

Collier may need to draft in a replacement goalkeeper to face St Albans as regular stopper Will Puddy is suffering with a knee injury.

Will Richards, Jack Compton and James Guthrie have slight fitness concerns but Collier hopes they will recover in time to feature this weekend.