PAUL Braithwaite knows his Royal Wootton Bassett Town side face a tough test when they travel to big-spending league-leaders Thatcham.

Despite going into the game on the back of three cup wins, Braithwaite believes that Saturday’s trip will be a different kettle of fish.

Bassett completed a 2-0 win at Bracknell in the Hellenic League Challenge Cup this week, courtesy of goals from Steve Robertson and Harvey Scholes, and Braithwaite is hoping that will give his team a boost for the weekend.

“We’ve had three cup wins so obviously we take a little bit of confidence from that but I have got to be realistic and Thatcham will be a totally different proposition,” said Braithwaite.

“They are a big-spending side so I can’t really compare Thatcham to those cup games.

“Bracknell was a good result. I think we deserved it on the night in a close-fought game. That will probably give us the confidence that we need going into the game on Saturday.

“From Thatcham’s point of view, they will be expecting to win it, so everything will be on their backs as the big-spending side looking to progress in the league and push out.

“It is for them to perform on the day and for us to make sure we turn up on the day and worry about what we do."

Skipper Steve Yeardley who is injured and set to undergo surgery will miss the tie, along with left-back Dale Richards, who is on holiday.

Bassett have lost their last three games in the Premier Division but will stick to their game-plan as they look to topple the top side.

“We’ve tried in the past trying to play 4-5-1 and packing the defence but you can’t always do it,” he added.

“You can’t expect players who don’t train four or five times a week to work out a formation just for one game.

“We’ll just concentrate on the way we play and that is all we’ll worry about. We should be pretty much able to name a full squad, which is good.

“With Dale, we have got two players who can fill in there if needed, which shouldn’t be an issue .”