CHIPPENHAM Town manager Mark Collier believes his side have an opportunity to do something special this season as they head into February just four points off a play-off spot.

Last year, the Bluebirds finished the season in 13th on 54 points following their promotion from the Southern League as champions.

This season though, Town will look to comfortably eclipse that mark and could even end up extending their season through the play-offs if they continue the type of form they have shown in recent weeks.

The Bluebirds manager said that now safety is virtually assured, his players are now free to see what they are capable of, while he hopes for more flagship games in the near future, starting with Welling on Saturday.

He said: “It’s a great opportunity for us to punch above our weight and with the squad we’ve got, and when our injuries are taken into consideration, I want the players to enjoy it and embrace it as well.

“There are some big clubs in the bottom half of our division fighting for their lives and we haven’t got that issue at this moment in time, so we should enjoy the big games – the more big games we can play, the better.”

Chippenham head into Saturday’s game three points behind Welling and Collier will be keen to ensure there is no repeat of the result in August’s reverse fixture.

Town were soundly beaten 4-1 as the loss acted as a timely reminder of the difficulty at playing National League level football.

Collier knows the test will remain difficult this time around but is backing his players to cause an upset of sorts as the Bluebirds seek to go four games unbeaten.

He said: “They gave us an absolute lesson at Hardenhuish earlier on in the season.

“They’re a big, strong, physical side with size and presence about them and they’re right in the mix (for promotion) as you’d expect.

“They’ve got a very experienced manager in Steve King, he’s managed in the football league as well, so as always it will be a difficult game.

“We’ve got 41 points in January – that’s a great effort by everybody concerned, especially with the injuries and other problems we’ve had.

“We go there in good spirits and we go there in relatively good form.”

And Chippenham’s good form of late is in no small part down to the goal-scoring exploits of Nat Jarvis.

The 27-year-old is seventh in the National League South top-scorer charts, having bagged himself 13 league goals already this season, including four in his last three as he netted both in last weekend’s 2-1 win over Truro City.

Collier was full of praise for his star striker after Saturday’s result, praising his work rate and goal ratio since he arrived at the club.

Collier said: He’s come in and worked his socks off since the day he arrived at the club.

“He’s been a credit to himself, and anyone who gets 20 goals at this level has obviously got something about them.

“It’s not just about his goals – he’ll say it is, and rightly so, he’s a striker so he’s just judged on his goals – but his all-around performance of late has been absolutely top drawer and credit to him.”