ROYAL Wootton Bassett captain Darren Beasant has set his sights on a strong haul of points over the next two matches to confirm his side’s WEPL Wiltshire status for another season – starting at home to local rivals Swindon this weekend.

With four weeks of the season remaining, Bassett remain handily placed in fifth in the table.

However, Beasant’s troops are in the midst of a miserable run of form, and the loss of key players has resulted in them winning just one of their last seven fixtures.

The exact number of teams facing relegation this season is yet to be confirmed, but Beasant fears it could be as many as three.

Although his team still hold a 46-point cushion over third-from-bottom Corsham 2nd, the Bassett skipper is eager to rubber-stamp their survival as soon as possible – particularly with the season ending with back-to-back fixtures against the top two of Warminster and Chippenham.

“Our team now is probably five or six players short of what it was at the start of the season. We have lost most of our top batting order and I defy any side not to see a drop off in performance as a result of that,” said Beasant.

“We need to finish the season strongly. If we get at least one more win then we will probably end up in mid-table. If we can’t win, then we at least need to pick up decent points in defeat.

“If we could get 20 to 25 points over the final four games, that could be enough – heavy losses are what we need to avoid.

“With the way the WEPL is structured, you are looking at what might happen with teams going up and down and I think there could be as many as three teams relegated this season.

“It is frustrating to think we might end up looking over our shoulder considering the strong start to the season we had.

“We have got a big derby against Swindon next and then Calne after that. A win from one of those two would be very timely because Warminster and Chippenham will probably still be fighting it out for the title when we play both of them.”

Elsewhere, Purton are currently fourth from bottom and may have slight fears over the drop of their own – although they face a stiff challenge to ease them this weekend as they travel to third-placed Marshfield.

In Premier Two Glos/Wilts, Lechlade look likely to face relegation themselves as they currently sit bottom of the table ahead of Saturday’s trip to Biddestone.