LES JONES says it’s important Malvern Town win their games in hand if they wish to be in the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division title race.
The Hillsiders boss watched his side claim their fourth win on the bounce in all competitions on Saturday as Dave Reynolds and an own-goal secured a 2-1 victory at Bilston Town Community.
The result was made even sweeter for Malvern after second placed Wolverhampton Sporting Community saw their 17-game unbeaten streak in the league come to an end in a 3-2 defeat at Stone Old Alleynians.
Malvern sit just eight and 11 points behind Wolverhampton and league leaders Haughmond respectively but have two games in hand, with their first being at Cradley Town on Wednesday (7.45pm KO).
And with the chance to close the gap on the leading pair, Jones told the Observer it’s important his side win their games in hand.
“We have got to keep the winning run going as our aim is to get as high up the league table as we possibly can,” he said.
“At the moment we are not in the title race but we are certainly in the race for the top three.
“Our target is to be in the top three by Christmas and see what happens from there but if we want to push for the title we need to win our next seven league games.”
Chris Parker, Jamie Hyde, Aaron Richards and Maximilliam Kontic-Coveney are expected to make a return to action at Cradley but Jones is still without the injured trio of Sam Rathbone, Louis Loader and Reece King.
But the Malvern boss is confident his squad has what it takes to claim an important three points.
“What really pleased me at Bilston was even though we had so many players playing out of position we managed to claim arguably our best win of the season,” he added.
“Bilston had got a good result against Wolverhampton [Sporting Community] the week before so it was fantastic to walk away with the three points.
“The squad for the game at Cradley will not be as stretched so hopefully we can keep up our winning run.”
After Wednesday’s game, Malvern then entertain Willenhall Town on Saturday (3pm KO).