Gillingham Town FC

GILLINGHAM Town's hopes of promotion could be made clearer by the end of the weekend despite them being in cup action.

Adrian Foster takes his Toolstation Western League First Division hopefuls to top flight Barnstaple Town in the Les Phillips Cup, while rivals Cadbury Heath visit Shrewton United in the league.

By 5pm on Saturday the second-placed Heathens will have played just two games fewer than Gill, having also hosted Calne Town - currently fourth - last night.

With Cadbury four games behind league-leaders Gillingham, Foster said he would prefer the Bristol side to win all of their matches in hand even if it means relinquishing the summit.

"I would rather Cadbury win all of their games apart from when they play us," he said. "If they win they will go clear of us, but I would still rather they beat the likes of Calne.

"There are four teams in it that could go up. Cadbury can do what they want and win every single game. We obviously need to wait for someone to slip up."

However, Foster said this did not mean his team would just settle for second. "You always want to win the league and at the start of the season that is always the aim. But if that is not possible we need to make sure we are in the running for the top two places."

Gill should have hosted Hengrove Athletic last Saturday, only for freezing conditions to force the game's postponment.

Foster said: "It is just life, you have just got to get on with it. Barnstaple in the cup this weekend will be good and it would be nice for the other teams around us to lose. If there is not a game, we just train, ready for the next one."