MELSKHAM Town manager Kieran Baggs saluted his skipper Gary Higdon as he netted his 250th goal for the club in their 4-1 home win over Longwell Green Sports.

Baggs opted to shuffle the pack ahead of the game, with Tyler Sibbeck and Dan Demkiv both playing the full 90 minutes after returning from injury.

Sibbeck grabbed a brace in addition to Higdon’s double, before the home side conceded in the last minute to surrender their clean sheet.

Melksham boss Baggs says Higdon has been superb for the club, where it has taken him just 334 games to reach the landmark tally.

“The night will obviously belong to the skipper, Gary Higdon, who got his 250th senior goal for the club – it’s a great achievement,” he said.

“He has been great for us since I have been here and even before that. His record speaks for itself and to do that in 334 games is incredible at any standard.

“I had to take him off with 15 minutes left of the game because of the FA Vase game coming up, he was disappointed he couldn’t get his hat-trick, but that is the type of character he is.

“I sat him down before the game and said we needed to rest him. I asked him if he wanted to start on the bench and he said absolutely not.

“He always wants to be scoring goals. When he’s not scoring goals he isn’t happy but he contributes all over the pitch, through set plays and defensively.”

Saturday sees Baggs’ side travel to Brislington in the Les Phillips Cup, before taking on Thatcham Town in the quarter-finals of the FA Vase.

With both games proving to be important to the manager, he says the squad depth allows him to rotate the team, without the quality of his side diminishing.

“The Vase game is always going to be in the back of my mind, but the Les Phillips Cup is important too because we are the holders of it,” added Baggs.

“I want to continue to do well in it. The squad now is probably as strong as it has ever been, so the longer we are in these competitions the easier it is for me to make sure players get minutes.

“There will be squad rotation but in my mind, it doesn’t make the team any weaker, it just means the boys are playing for their places.

“Complacency is a killer and it certainly won’t be creeping in with us.”

This weekend Luke Ballinger and Jake Brown are both back from suspension and the club have no new injury concerns.