ROYAL Wootton Bassett captain Darren Beasant admits back-to-back defeats have shown his side just how tough life will be in the West of England Premier League this season.

Bassett were promoted as Wiltshire League champions in 2016 and made a dream start to life as a WEPL Wiltshire team with victory at Warminster in their season opener on May 6.

However, they have since fallen to consecutive defeats at home to Great Bedwyn and then on the road at Devizes last time out.

As his side prepare to host Marlborough on Saturday, Beasant says Bassett are in no doubt about the level of performance that is required to compete in their new surroundings.

“After the fixtures came out, we looked at the start we had and we didn’t think it would get much tougher than Warminster away, so that was a great match to win,” said Beasant.

“The following week against Bedwyn, we were well below our best and I said that to the guys afterwards. I think that came from not preparing properly.

“Although it was great to get that early win, a bit of complacency might have crept in. If it did, I can assure everyone that it’s gone now.

“I’m still positive. We’ve had one win, we’d have liked to have had a couple more but we have had chances to win all three games we’ve played and I think we have shown that we can be competitive in this league.

“We just want to retain our WEPL status for next season and to do that, we will need five or six wins. “ Bassett will have home advantage this weekend as they search for a second win of the season, although Beasant is not sure how much that will help.

Last season was Bassett’s first at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground and five of their nine home fixtures were either abandoned or cancelled, meaning Beasant’s men are still getting to grips with their new surroundings.

“It’s a lovely facility and it’s great that we don’t have any of the other worries like travel, but it’s still fairly new to us,” said Beasant. “I think we only completed three or four of our home matches last season, so we are still getting used to it.

“We’re lucky that we get lots of people who come to watch us play so it doesn’t feel like an away game but it doesn’t have that familiar feel.”

Elsewhere, Swindon will look to continue their unbeaten start at the top of the table when they host Great Bedwyn, while Purton travel to Marshfield.