CHIPPENHAM Town manager Mark Collier rued a missed opportunity as his side drew 0-0 against Welling United at the newly renamed Thornbury Surfacing Stadium on Saturday.

Despite the number of shots mirroring the number of droplets of rain that fell from the sky on Saturday afternoon, the Bluebirds could not find a way past the opposition goalkeeper and they were forced to settle for a point.

In front of a crowd of 484 – some 2,500 short of the expected crowd for next Sunday’s FA Cup fixture against Northampton Town – Chippenham thought they had won it in added time when substitute Luke Hopper tapped the ball home, only for the linesman to raise his flag and deny them.

Collier said in no uncertain terms that he felt it was a game his team should have won, but the Bluebirds boss admitted he could still take several positives from the stalemate as Chippenham stretched their unbeaten run to 11 matches.

“It was a game that we should have won – we created three or very good chances to score,” said Collier.

“They just came here and sat behind the ball really and played on the counter, which we expected them to do.

“But we’re disappointed we haven’t got all three points because our performance certainly warranted it on a difficult day in difficult conditions.

“Some of our football was as good as we’ve played in a long time, so there is a real sense of disappointment among the players that we haven’t got the reward from the game that we feel we deserved.

“But the positives are; we’ve kept a clean sheet, we’ve gained another point and it keeps the unbeaten run going.”

With the unbeaten run going back all the way into mid-September, Collier has been delighted to see his players not become distracted by the thrill of a red-letter fixture, instead using the preceding games to fight for a place in the matchday XI.

The manager said there are still two more opportunities for players to impress in training though before he makes a final decision on selection next Sunday.

Collier said: “We said to the players once again before the game that they can play themselves into the starting XI next week, and the subs can still do the same.

“I thought that the starting XI against Welling did that.

“It will be the same in training on Tuesday and Thursday.

“No one is taking their foot off the pedal, and we’ve got everybody back fit and well.

“There are 18 players fighting for 11 shirts next Sunday, and that’s the way we want it.”