SUSPENDED centre back Ross Adams admits he owes his Chippenham Town teammates a “big season” following his red card shame in the play-off defeat at Halesowen Town.

Adams will be forced to watch from the stands on Saturday as title favourites Cambridge City visit Hardenhuish Park, when the memories of that painful defeat in the West Midlands are sure to come flooding back.

The former Highworth Town defender has been assured he was not to blame for Chippenham’s exit at the semi-final stage last season, after he was given his marching orders for a professional foul on Eldon Maquemba.

But Adams still carries the scars from that night, and he is determined to pay back his debt in full when his one-match ban has been served.

“Personally, I feel that I owe the team and I owe the club after what happened in the play-offs,” said Adams.

“People kept telling me last season you can’t blame yourself, but I couldn’t help feeling that way.

“To make matters worse I am suspended for the first game, so I’m reminded of it straight away.

“It’s Cambridge City as well, who are one of the favourites to go up, so it’s a pretty big game to miss.

“Hopefully the boys can win the game without me and we can get off to a decent start.

“If that means I have to bide my time to get back in the side then sobeit. The most important thing is the team.”

Adams is about to embark on his fourth season with the Bluebirds, making him one of the club’s longest serving players.

He has tasted play-off defeat twice in that time and is desperate not to make it an unwanted hat-trick in 2008/9.

“We keep knocking on the door but then we always seem to fall at the final hurdle,” he said.

“We want to avoid all that hurt this season and try to win the league outright.

“It’s going to be difficultthough because some big clubs have come down and there’s a fair bit of money flying around.

“We don’t have the easiest of starts either, but if we can put a few points on the board it will be a massive boost.

“We will set ourselves mini targets at the end of each month and see where we go from there.

“It’s my fourth season here and I have really enjoyed myself. There have been some ups and downs but it’s a great club with great fans and I love playing in front of big crowds every week.”