Manager Matt Clements is confident St Neots Town possess the necessary firepower to climb the Southern League Premier Division Central standings.

Saints have drawn a blank in seven of their opening 11 league fixtures despite boasting an exciting array of attacking players.

They have scored only eight times in total in the Premier Division Central with two of those goals arriving in a precious 2-1 victory at Lowestoft last Tuesday.

They were both provided by striker Nabil Shariff, who was drafted in for a second Saints spell following the club’s disappointing start to the season.

“The win at Lowestoft was hugely important,” said Clements. “It pushed us up a couple of places in the table and hopefully we can now continue to climb.

“We made a lot of progress last season and we made no secret of the fact we want that to continue.

“We haven’t got off to the start that we would have liked in the league and it’s clear that we ideally need to be scoring a few more goals.

“We showed in the FA Cup that we are capable of doing that and I’m confident we can transfer it into the league.

“We have players who can create and take chances, and hopefully it’s just a matter of time until we’re scoring more regularly.”

Saints head to Coalville Town this Saturday and they know all about the Leicestershire side following two clashes in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup.

Saints hit two late goals to draw 2-2 in the initial clash at the Premier Plus Stadium before recovering from 3-1 down to level with another last-gasp comeback in a replay they eventually won on penalties.

Another league game follows on Tuesday when Saints host Tamworth and Clements hopes two key players – defender Taylor Parr and midfielder Luke Knight - will return for those important fixtures. Harry O’Malley is currently taking a break from the game for personal reasons.

Saints have avoided another meeting against Coalville in the next round of the FA Trophy.

Clements’ men made progress in the national competition last Saturday when a classy Shariff strike was enough to see off Matlock Town 1-0 at the Premier Plus Stadium.

Their reward was another home date against either Coalville or another Southern League Premier Division Central side, Barwell, in the second qualifying round on November 10.

And it is Barwell who Saints will now meet after they triumphed 3-2 in extra-time at Coalville in a replay on Tuesday.