Captain Micky Hyem is convinced the good times are on the way back to Godmanchester Rovers.

Hyem helped the local club to successive Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division runners-up finishes in the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons under the management of Nev Nania and Matt Clements respectively.

But the club was hit by a mass exodus at the end of the second of those campaigns after the exit of current St Neots Town boss Clements, with a tough 2016/17 predictably following.

Several of the players who departed – including Hyem himself – have since returned and Rovers are again making progress for boss Ollie Drake, who was appointed last summer.

They produced one of their finest displays of the season last Saturday when thumping Brantham Athletic 4-0 at the David Wilson Homes Ground thanks to goals from Joe Furness, Arran Mackay, Jack Chandler and Tom Spark.

That result kept them in sixth place and Hyem said: “We have a great group of lads and competition for places is strong. Players are all fighting to get in and stay in the team.

“Everyone is buzzing and the team spirit is really good again – just like it was a few years ago. The most important thing is that we’re all enjoying our football.

“If we had started the season with the squad we have now, there is in no doubt in my mind we would finish in the top three.

“We’ve still got games in hand on all the teams above and we want to get as high as we possibly can.

“Getting into the top four has to be the target from here.”

Boss Drake was left ‘exceptionally proud’ of his Rovers side following their drubbing of a dangerous Brantham team, who sit one place above them in the Premier Division standings.

Furness hit an early opener before Mackay and Chandler effectively sealed the points before half-time. Spark completed the scoring with a quarter-of-an-hour to go.

Drake said: “The boys really stepped up in a massive game. Brantham didn’t have a single shot on goal and that shows how dominant we were.

“To perform like that against one of the top sides in the league is really pleasing.”

Rovers took the early decision yesterday to postpone another important home clash against Stanway Rovers tonight due to the freezing weather.

They face a tough Saturday trip to third-placed Stowmarket Town.