MELKSHAM Town boss Kieran Baggs believes his side remain underdogs for promotion from the Toolstation Premier Division, despite defeating Bradford Town 1-0 in a crunch ‘six-pointer’ on Monday night.

Baggs’ men leapfrogged third-placed Bradford to move into the final automatic promotion spot from the top flight on goal difference.

However, chasing Willand Rovers, currently seven points behind Melksham, have three games in hand and it's those that could provide Melksham’s biggest threat when it comes to earning promotion, according to Baggs.

“It’s a case now of taking every game as it comes,'' said the Melksham chief. “But every game is massive, and last night’s win against Bradford was huge.

“We had the added incentive of the game being against our local rivals, but we’re still relying on Willand Rovers dropping points, it’s out of our hands until they do so.”

Gary Higdon scored Melksham’s only goal on Monday as a rugged home defence prevented Bradford Town from scoring.

While Baggs admits Higdon will take the plaudits, the Melksham boss praised the team performance.

“The game was a great advert for Western League football,” said Baggs.

“I believe we were the better team, but Bradford changed their style and were a little more direct than normal.

“It was a new way of playing Bradford, but I have watched them play with that approach before so we were prepared.

“We could have took a few earlier chances, but it was a massive performance from the whole team.

“Our goalkeeper, back four, midfield and up front all played their part and recording a clean sheet against Bradford is always massive. To prevent them from scoring was very important.

“We looked very threatening and had good support from behind. I can’t single out any individuals, it was a great all-round team performance.”

Willand have three games to play before the end of the week, including a crunch tie against Bradford on Saturday.

That game is followed by what will be Melksham’s biggest fixture of the season as they travel to Willand on Saturday week (May 2).

Baggs added: “Second is a nice spot to be. We’ve got to be realistic, we aren’t favourites to go up, but if everyone stays focussed we can do it.

“We have huge games against Wellington and Willand coming up.”

Bradford boss Danny Greaves was left frustrated with the result, particularly given his side had led 2-0 during the original staging of the game on Easter Monday before it was abandoned at half-time due to the weather conditions.

“Football can be cruel,'' he admitted. “I look back at the game four weeks ago where we played extremely well.

“We were winning 2-0 before the game was abandoned at half-time.

“They put a lot of effort into getting the game on, but we felt more could have been done at half-time.

“The fixture gods were against us as well. We had a tough game against Buckland while Melksham had a free weekend. But both teams had good chances and they took one of theirs.”

Despite losing, Greaves admitted to being pleasantly surprised that his side are still in the promotion race.

“Ultimately, we’ve got to be pleased with what we’ve done,” he said. “The boys have been superb.

“We’ll be going out to attack these last two games. Willand will be tough, but I’ll let the boys play with freedom.

“Six points might do it for us, but we have to hope both teams around us slip up.”