The Kingfishers currently sit 15th in the league table after recent losses to Moneyfields, Cirencester and Street, but manager Danny Robinson remains upbeat approaching the game.

When asked how confident he was of his side bouncing back, the 32-year-old said: “I am 100% confident. I wouldn’t be in the job if I wasn’t confident. I’m confident in every player that we have, confident in my managerial staff’s abilities.

“This level is: whoever is most consistent wins the league and whoever isn’t could get relegated.

“We have to try and find a bit of consistency. We’ve been unlucky, in my head and in my eyes, with a couple of the results that I don’t think we deserved to have.

“But we do have them and now we will try and put things right on Saturday.”

With just two points separating the two sides, and with Mangotsfield finding themselves 18th in the table, winning this weekend’s clash could prove vital for either side.
One potential difficulty the Thatcham boss may face is a string of injuries heading into the game: “We’ve got a fair few out on Saturday. James Tennant picked up a knock last weekend, Jahson Downes is touch-and-go, Scott Rees is out injured as well,” said Robinson.

Despite the hosts’ last league victory at The Curtis Drew Stadium coming in late September, the Thatcham boss is not approaching this fixture lightly: “They’re big, strong, very well organised. They’ve got a quite young side, they’ve got a very good centre forward.

“Adam Kelly, who I used to go through my Winchester days with, is exceptional on his day. It’s going to be a very, very tough game - just like any other at this level.

“We’ve got to make sure that we are hard to beat, solid, work hard for each other and hopefully we can impose ourselves on them.”

(Photo credit: James & Freya Parker)