SECURING a first ever away win at local rivals Hungerford Town will be the primary objective for Chippenham Town this weekend, according to manager Mark Collier.

The Bluebirds have a sorry record against the Berkshire side overall, having not beaten Hungerford in their first seven attempts – finally gaining a much-desired victory in the two clubs’ most recent meeting at Hardenhuish Park earlier this year.

And with only two points from a possible 12 picked up at Bulpit Lane, Chippenham boss Collier has targeted a change in fortunes for his side as they head east for the early-season clash.

The Bluebirds have started reasonably well in their National League South campaign – remaining unbeaten before a narrow midweek defeat to Wealdstone – and the Chippenham boss has called on supporters to make the trip to Hungerford to help his side rediscover their golden touch.

Collier said: “Hopefully we can get a good following up there. It’s not that far up the road for our supporters.

“It’s always a difficult place to go and our record isn’t great there, but hopefully we can get some more points to add to our tally.

“We’re aware that they will know all about us, but we’ve got some guns to our armoury at the moment.

“Hopefully we can use those and get three points when we get to Hungerford on Saturday.”

Chippenham will be without Will Richards for this weekend’s clash as the central defender sustained a broken arm midway through Saturday’s win over Billericay Town.

Collier admitted that while Richards’ injury – which will keep him out for around a month – was unfortunate, further alterations to his starting line-up should be expected over the next few games as Chippenham continue to navigate a heavy workload throughout August.

He said: “We changed things around on Tuesday because we think we need do that with so many games in such a short space of time.

“They’re high-tempo games at the moment, they take a lot out of players, so we felt it was right to freshen up.

“We’ll have to make do without Will (Richards) for the time being, but we’ve got able cover at the back and credit goes to those players that have come in and done a job because we’re going to need to continue to rotate throughout the month of August.”

Collier is expected to name a strong starting XI for the M4-corridor derby, and is likely to include former Oxford United, Bristol Rovers and Cheltenham Town striker Chris Zebroski.

The Swindon-born forward caught the eye of his new manager with a workmanlike performance in the defeat to Wealdstone on Tuesday and Collier has been more than pleased with what he has seen from the controversial striker so far.

Collier said: “Chris is a top coup for us. He’s played for numerous league clubs and he’s got numerous league appearances under his belt.

“He’s a big, physical presence, but he played 90 minutes in midweek and absolutely worked his socks off for the team.

“He’s a local lad that’s decided part-time football is for him now. He’s got a job in the area and we’re his local club, so he showed a real desire to come to the club.

“He wants to play, be a part of what we’re trying to achieve here at Chippenham and we’re very pleased to have him.”