TREVOR Rawlings has called on his side to cut out “costly mistakes” when Warminster Town travel to Bremhill View on Saturday.

The Lilywhites headed into lockdown in 3rd place in the Western League Division One following seven wins from eight games.

They trail league leaders Welton Rovers by just four points and also have two games in hand on the Green Army.

Rawlings is hoping Calne can continue their winning league form but is wary that Warminster will punish them if they continue to make defensive errors.

“I’m expecting a very tough game,” Rawlings said. “Crabby [Andy Crabtree] always has a very well disciplined and well drilled side.

“He plays very direct and we’re going to have to be at our very best and cut out costly mistakes.

“If we do what we’ve been doing then we’ve got a great chance but if we don’t then we’ll come undone against a team like Warminster.”

Calne lost all three of their friendlies against Shrivenham, Melksham Town and Westbury United respectively.

Rawlings has vowed not to read too much into the results and believes their performances will be stronger with a settled side.

“I think against better sides, especially when you play the likes of Melksham, you get punished for errors,” Rawlings observed.

He continued: “You might get five chances in our league and they might not score any of them but if you give five chances to a team like Melksham they might score three or four.

“The biggest thing for me is not to look too much into the defeats because in a league game we wouldn’t make six substitutions.

“We would have the same side until we need to make a change. It’s nothing against the players who came on but they’ve got to settle into the tempo of the game very quickly.”

Warminster have enjoyed a very strong start to the season themselves – winning six of their opening nine league games to climb into 6th place.

The Red and Blacks have one of the meanest attacks in the division. Only Welton Rovers and Corsham Town (both 29) have scored more than their impressive tally of 24 goals this season.

Rawlings believes Warminster have realistic ambitions of gaining promotion but expects the race to be extremely tight.

“They’ve recruited well,” he said. “They’ve got a very good side so they’ll be up there without a shadow of a doubt.

“However, they’ll be in the mix with a lot of other sides too. I expect them to win a lot more games than they will lose.

“I’m sure they’ll definitely be looking to get into the top four!”