THORNBURY Town manager Andy Davies has praised his squad – and particularly the loyalty of his leading goal-scorer – as his side close in on top spot in the Gloucestershire County League.

Town are now in third place in the table and just four points off leaders Stonehouse Town. But crucially they have a game in hand on Stonehouse and two in hand on second-placed Frampton United whom they play at the Mundys Playing Field on Saturday week in a massive six-pointer.

It has been an excellent run by Thornbury which saw them beat a rejuvenated Cheltenham Civil Service away by 4-2 last Saturday.

And in that victory over the 2014/15 champions, who suffered a player drain last season and finished down the table, Thornbury’s striker on fire, Craig Lancastle, hit a hat-trick.

Davies revealed that he has had countless requests from clubs to take Lancastle away from the club but has refused every one of them – as has the player himself.

The Town manager said: “We have had a seven day notice from Hanham Athletic who we have turned down. We have had a lot of clubs in the past trying to sign him but he has been very loyal to us which is all credit to him.

“He just likes to be with the lads and score goals. He scored a hat-trick on Saturday and that’s what he is there for.

“He scored 32 goals in the cup and league last season and he is well on his way to something like that again this season. He is one of those players that you should have in every team and gets offers to move every week.”

Thornbury Town’s motivation this season has been to finish as high as they possibly can which could bring them ‘advancement’ to the next level up from the Gloucestershire County League.

Davies added: “We are going for promotion to the next step of the next level. We are trying to finish as high as we can because, you can finish down in fifth place and go up a level but if someone else finishes above you and they fulfil the criteria, they will go up and not you.

“We want to finish in the top three, second or even first. That’s our priority and the guys have been great about it.”

Thornbury Town have won four of their last five matches, with a 1-0 defeat at Little Stoke at the start of the month just ‘a blip’.

Davies added: “We have had a couple of blips, like losing to Little Stoke, but then we beaten Rockleaze Rangers 2-1 and gone to Cheltenham and won 4-2.

“Luckily, we have not had injuries yet and if we can stay clear of injuries, that will be good. I have a small squad of 16 players and losing one of the big ones to injury would be tough.”

Thornbury look to continue their run of success this weekend when they play mid-table Hardwicke, but Davies warns that the opposition will be no pushovers.

“They are a hard team to play against. They beat us in the semi-finals of the cup last season and they are strong. You cannot say we will win that one easily.”