UCL: Chenecks bid to be the town's top team

With newly-promoted Chens sitting comfortably in mid-table in the UCL Premier Division, they now have Sileby Rangers in their sights.

Sileby are currently one place and three points above Cottle’s side, who, having played two games more, are 12th with six wins from their 17 league matches to date.

Cogenhoe United have some catching up to do, as they are 17th, seven points behind Chens, having played two matches more.

And Cottle said: “Every area has this little league.

“Everyone wants to be the top team in the town and it’s a mini-battle going on between us, Sileby and Cogenhoe.

“You always want to pip your rivals in the league. There’s not much to play for if you’re not in the cups so that is a motivation for us.”

Chenecks have adapted well to life at a higher level, having finished second to Peterborough Sports in division one last season.

And Cottle said: “Coming into the league, we weren’t sure what to expect, but we’ve found our feet a little bit.

“One or two sides are excellent, like Deeping and Sports, and they are at the level we want to get to.

“There are only a few games we haven’t competed in and we’re not doing too badly.

“The main difference is that you just don’t have any easy games.

“In division one, there were three or four guaranteed wins but we don’t have that this season.”

Chenecks cruised to a 3-0 win against Oadby Town at Billing Road last weekend.

And Cottle only expects his side to get stronger in the coming weeks, with Chens facing four more home games in succession and preparing to welcome a plethora of key men back.

“We’ve got four home games on the bounce coming up and hopefully that can be an advantage,” Cottle said.

“We want to keep moving up the league and we’re getting players back now.

“At one point we had about eight players out, which made it tough.

“We’ve been missing the likes of Ben Lewington and George Clarke of late, but they should be back next week, which will be a big boost.”