CIRENCESTER TOWN won their final seven games last season to lift the Southern League South & West title – this season they are seven games away from making history.

Back-to-back promotions would see the club playing at the highest level (Conference South) in its 125-year history.

Town’s 11th away win of the season at Frome on Saturday was described as ‘huge’ by manager Brian Hughes.

The title is Poole’s to lose as they top the league and have games in hand. But Ciren, though in eighth, are just two points off Hungerford in the final play-off place (fifth) and have played one game less.

One player who insists his team-mates must ‘seize the chance’ is left back Ellis Dunton who is now resigned to missing the remainder of the season after suffering medial ligament damage to his left knee in the game against Truro last month.

“Five of our seven games are winnable against bottom-eight sides,” said Dunton. “We have Poole at home (April 8) where a point would be good, while the key game could be at home to Hungerford (April 18) in the penultimate match of the season.

“If I were to get any sort of positive news from the result of my knee scan this week that is the game I would love to target as a comeback – and obviously the Gloucestershire Cup Final in which we play Shortwood on April 28. Manager Hughes is also keeping his fingers crossed that Dunton just needs rehab rather than surgery.

“Losing Ellis at this stage is a massive blow as he has been one of three or four who are in the running for my Player of the Year,” said the boss.

“The Frome game had a draw written all over it until we got a scrappy goal to win.

“That put us back in the frame. It was a good response to our worst performance of the season the week before at St Neots.

“We feel like we have never been invited to the party, but we have worked incredibly hard to come this far and we are just going to see where it takes us.

“My players showed last season that they could cope with the pressure of a run-in when they finished with seven wins in a row. Some of the other teams are not going to be able to cope with that pressure.”

Ciren’s next two games are at home to Slough on Saturday and Arlesey on Saturday week in a party atmosphere for the 125th anniversary game.