Forth Wanderers boss Thomas Devine admits his side are exactly where he thought they would be, but is looking to continue a fine run when they host Lugar Boswell Thistle on Saturday.
Wanderers are sixth in the West of Scotland League Conference A table with six wins and a draw from their 10 games and are six points off second place, though they have played a game more than Arthurlie, who currently occupy that slot.
A 1-0 win at Johnstone Burgh has provided a massive boost, however, and Devine wants to keep their form run going.
He said: “We’re where we thought would be; if we played as well as we could, I thought we would be in the top half of that table, competing, and that’s what we’ve done.
“We regrouped after an opening day disappointment and came back with some really good results, so fingers crossed we can keep it going.
“If you lose a game you can drop down to 10th, and if you win a game it’s only one or two places, but everybody’s still quite closely grouped.
“You need a run of four or five games to keep you in there.
“We’ve got a tough run of games, and we’re looking to pick up points until the half-way point and then see how the league has settled down, so five more games to go to that point.”
Devine was delighted with their win on Saturday and said: “I don’t think I’ve been up there many times and got results at Johnstone, so it’s a real bonus to get three points against what is a good team.
“It was a really good performance, and we fully merited the three points as well.
“It has been quite a good start to the season, just one or two disappointing results in there, but winning six out the first 10, we’ve done really well.
“On Saturday the boys dug in, it was hard-fought, but well deserved.”
Forth continue their campaign at home to Lugar on Saturday and Devine expects a tough game, despite their opponents sitting bottom of the table.
“Lugar have had maybe a tougher start to ourselves, in terms of their points tally, but every team you play there’s not any gimme,” he said.
“You’ve just got to prepare your squad and focus on what we can do, but I’m expecting a really tough game – they’re losing a lot of goals, but they’re scoring a lot, too.
“We need to be organised, keep our discipline, but hopefully keep the run going, because the more games you win, it builds confidence.
“The boys start to believe in what you’re telling them, that they’re good enough.”
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