PURTON skipper Tom Whittaker will be taking nothing for granted this weekend when tackling winless Potterne’s 2s at home in WEPL Wiltshire (12.30pm).

Whittaker’s troops recorded a dominant – and unexpected – nine-wicket win over Royal Wootton Bassett last weekend, and consequently enter this weekend’s apparent ‘penalty kick’ tie in full confidence.

Results for Potterne meanwhile have been far from eye-catching. A crushing nine-wicket loss against Marshfield last weekend followed their opening weekend loss at home to Calne – another nine-wicket defeat.

Those two results combined mean Potterne 2s sit bottom of the table, with no points recorded from their opening two fixtures.

But having never met the side before, Whittaker is keen for his youthful Purton XI to remain focused on the job in hand – admitting victory this weekend can help add vital points to their initial target.

He said: “We haven’t played them before, and Potterne haven’t had the best start to the season.

“But, we will be missing a few players this weekend. We’ve got to make sure we’re on our game.

“If we repeat what we did last week and maintain our levels of discipline and energy then we should be able to challenge for another strong result.”

An overhaul of players in the winter did concern the Purton skipper, but he is notably pleased with how quickly his youthful team has connected in the opening two fixtures of the season.

Picking up a respectable number of points from games that don’t go in his side’s favour is a key element for Whittaker if Purton are to remain in the division.

And he has backed his players to do just that, especially after their respectable performance on the opening weekend of the season against promotion hopefuls Marshfield.

Whittaker added: “We’re on track to reach our goals. We didn’t expect to beat Marshfield on the opening weekend, but we still managed to grind out seven points.

“I think that will be a pivotal factor for us this year – if we lose games, we need to be picking up big points.

“That, coupled with winning games that are key in terms of staying up, should put us in a good position.

“I’m really impressed with how the team has gelled together, the vibe at the club right now is really good.

“It helps having a group of young lads that have a common interest – we all go out and have a drink together.

“And that shows when we go out onto the field, our energy is impressive. Other teams pick that up, they know we’re energetic and will chase down any total set for us.”

Elsewhere in WEPL Wiltshire, Swindon host Royal Wootton Bassett at the County Ground.