THORNBURY Town boss Andy Davies has praised his side after they reached the summit of the Gloucestershire County League on Saturday.

And now he has urged them to keep their feet on the ground and push on into 2017.

The club face two big clashes over the Christmas and New Year period but are literally on a high after a seven-goal thrashing of Gala Wilton last weekend plus the favour done by Kingswood in defeating leaders Stonehouse Town 3-2.

That has put Davies’ aces on top of the table, and the Thornbury manager said: “I cannot ask anymore of them. They are doing everything they possibly can to be there.”

The course of events are in Thornbury’s own hands now as they currently lie a point above long-term leaders Stonehouse and have the huge advantage of having a game in hand on their rivals going into the new year.

And, if Thornbury can come out of the tough festive programme still ahead of the now second-placed Stonehouse, it will put them in the driving seat to secure their first league title since 2010.

This weekend, Thornbury play seventh-placed Patchway Town at the Mundys Playing Fields and then have the big one – an away Christmas cracker with Stonehouse on Tuesday December 27.

Davies said: “All we are trying to do now is keep winning. We are not worried about Stonehouse and what they are doing. As long as we keep picking up points, that’s it.

“We have two tough games coming up and they are key. We just need to keep this going. We have no injuries and we are ok in that respect.

“I have 16/18 players in the squad and, although it is a cliché, it is one game at a time.”

Also key is that the players do not get carried away with their lofty status at present. “It’s up to the players to deal with it,” added the manager.

“You have to go out there into the game and play it with a smile on your face and see how it goes.”

But Davies is only too aware that, now they are top dogs, the rest of the league will be shooting at them and trying to deprive them of the title.

“Everyone will want to beat us now. Now that we are top, everyone will be giving it a bit more and so we will have to lift it a little bit ourselves.”

One negative is that Davies will be without Marcus Wormwell, who has had a great season so far, as he is off on an extended break abroad.

Davies said: “We have had some glitches along the way against teams we should have beaten but we haven’t been beaten since losing 1-0 at Little Stoke about four or five games ago.

“Also, we were 2-1 up against Stonehouse (in the first match this season) and missed a penalty. They scored in the 92nd minute and won 3-2.

“It’s all about getting there at the top of the table but, when you are there, you have to stay there. We are quite a consistent side. Sometimes we start slow but, apart from that, teams will not beat us by much.”