WOOTTON Bassett Town boss Paul Braithwaite insists that his side’s season shouldn’t be judged on their back-to-back clashes with the Hellenic League Premier Division’s top two.

Bassett were unable to put the brakes on league leaders Highmoor Ibis on Wednesday night as they slipped to a 3-1 defeat at the Corinium Stadium, with Dan Bailey’s opening goal cancelled out by Sanchez Commack, Devon Reid, from the penalty spot, and Steve Peacock.

And the difficulty levels show no sign of decreasing this weekend as Braithwaite’s men prepare to host second-placed Ascot United but the Bassett chief doesn’t think that his team should be downhearted if they end up on the end of another loss.

“We surprised Highmoor by taking the lead but we did give away their two goals in the first half and if we’d gone in to half-time 1-0 up, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened,” said Braithwaite.

“We didn’t deal with a long ball over the top and we then gave away a penalty. We could have come away with a point.

“Highmoor and Ascot are two sides that are probably looking to win the league and we shouldn’t judge ourselves too much on how we get on against them.

“We are where we are because of how we’ve played and we’re concentrating on the sides around us in the table. We are a young side and we are a bit naive sometimes, so we shouldn’t worry too much about these two games.

“Anyone can beat anyone in this league and whatever we end up getting at Ascot, we end up getting.”

A handful of Bassett players sat out Wednesday’s loss but Braithwaite expects to have a fully-fit squad to choose from for this weekend’s clash, with Sean Terry, Pete Sykes and Scott Walduck all back in contention.

The Corinium Stadium chief added: “One or two lads have been playing with knocks but apart from that, I’ve got pretty much everyone to choose from this weekend – three lads sat out Wednesday but they’re available.”

Elsewhere, Highworth Town and Shrivenham are both in first round Challenge Cup action on Saturday.

John Fisher’s Worthians travel to Buckinghamshire to take on Division Two East Stokenchurch whilst Sam Collier’s Shrivvy host mid-table Premier Division rivals Brimscombe & Thrupp.

Division One West Fairford Town and Purton are also up against Premier Division opposition, in Thame and Thatcham Town respectively.