CHIPPENHAM Town’s experienced players must step up this weekend as they prepare for a vital fixture in the Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division play-off race against Leamington, according to captain Greg Tindle.

Town travel to the south Midlands on Saturday to face the team sitting fourth in the table after slipping outside the play-offs themselves courtesy of the 1-0 defeat at Chesham last weekend.

Tindle said he and other senior squad members would be looking to help the Town youngsters through their difficult run-in.

He said: “It’s not an easy league to win, it’s a very, very difficult league to win and it’s a long old season.

“Obviously we have a young team maybe it’s taken its toll a little bit.

“Now is the time for the older players to drag the young lads through. That’s what I need to do.

“I will be looking to do that on Saturday and other experienced players will be looking to do the same.

“It’s not a time to start fragmenting, we have got to stick together and get the right result.

“We have always had a good atmosphere in the camp, runs like this happen in a season it’s how you overcome it.

“We have been in the top five or six over the whole season, we have not become a bad side.”

Earlier this week, manager Mark Collier described his team’s sequence of four games without a win, which has seen them slip six points behind leaders Redditch United, as just a blip.

Town can return to third, above Leamington, with a win on Saturday, which Tindle believes demonstrates the importance of every point.

“It’s going to be a massive game, there’s a lot to play for,” he said.

“It happens to everyone in any league, the best teams go through blips and we are no different.

“Leamington had a bad result on Tuesday night but they have been on a fantastic run recently.

“We have not but we will go there definitely looking to get a win. We have got to now and it’s paramount we stay on the path to secure a play-off spot as soon as possible.

“Obviously the lads are disappointed but we know what’s needed and we have trained hard this week.

“We have done it a couple of times this season, a four or five-game winning streak, and that’s what we want to do now. If we win on Saturday and Monday, that will put us in a strong position going into the end of the season.

“Every point will be vital, if we don’t win I don’t think a draw would be a bad result. We want to win every single game left.”

Town will be boosted by the return of suspended midfielder Matt Smith and injured frontman Andy Sandell for Saturday’s game at the New Windmill Ground.