THERE'S not a single Littledean lad in the line-up and the team plays home matches away at Mitcheldean. But there is, says player manager James Haines, a long-term ambition to take the game back to the village from which they take their name.

"We are fund-raising to try and get the pitch at Littledean Rec levelled. We definitely want to play there as soon as we can and the hope is that we will also get footballers from the village in the side," said Haines.

The village club was reformed in 2008 and returned to league football a year later. It has not, admits, Haines been an easy few years.

But, ever optimistic, he says the present squad is the best so far. "We only have three of the original players, that's me, Aaron Pollock and Jake Taylor. But the players who have come in are young and really keen to make progress.

"Our form has been better than our league position suggests. Two years ago we were third from bottom and last year fourth from bottom. The ambition is to improve on that and we are aiming for 30 points."

Haines says he is confident of a strong finish and points out that their remaining fixtures are against teams from the lower end of the division. "We have three old heads and the rest are young players, mainly from Cinderford and Mitcheldean. We get 19 at training and they are all keen and improving."

Top scorer is striker Ryan Bennett who netted a hat-trick against Coleford on Saturday to take his league and cup tally for the season to 18. "That's a good achievement in a league that is tougher than many people think. There are a number of new sides and two or three of them are very strong and too good for the league but I would like to think that if we continue to improve we can be in with a shout of promotion next season."

He adds: "We all want to take the game back to Littledean and we train there in the summer and hold football training for youngsters there on Saturday mornings. That's the aim but first of all we have to get a level pitch to play on."