WHILE he isn't looking at Bostik League division north placings at the moment, Witham Town manager Mark Ashford knows his team will have to be at the top of their game if they want to overturn the form book when high-flying Basildon United visit on Saturday.

Basildon head to the Village Glass Stadium (kick-off 3pm) sitting in top spot with a perfect record of four wins from four games in the league so far, while Witham are 17th following their 2-0 defeat at Dereham Town last weekend.

Ashford feels not too much should be read into placings in the early table, however, he is a fan of the work done by boss Marc Harrison at the Bees and knows his team will have to take advantage of not having any midweek action to get prepared.

He said: "Coaching is obviously something that I value highly and having a week like this to work with the players is important.

"There is a lot we can work on with them in the four hours that we have between the Dereham and Basildon games.

"We'll be looking to make the most of the time we have because it's not going to be easy against Basildon.

"I hold Marc Harrison and Liam Wallace (Basildon's manager and assistant manager) in high regard for what they have done as I know questions were asked what they could do when they went there and they went and got promoted from the Essex Senior League.

"People then asked what could they do in the Bostik League and they're top after four games with a group of players who clearly work their socks off for them, so I hold them in high regard.

"I'm imagining that it will be a tough game and one where we will have to be at our best, but you can't look at the fact that they are top.

"This early in the season, I don't think league positions really matter because it can change quickly, but what does matter is form and they are obviously in form because they are top.

"They are there on merit because they've had a good start and we have to make sure we hit the levels we did in the FA Cup game at Coggeshall and in the League Cup against Grays to make sure we get something from the game."

Ashford said he would once again be without central defenders Pat Ahern, who has an ankle problem, and Andrew Tirivanhu, who is recovering after an operation last week to mend a fractured cheek bone.

However, the Witham boss added that Shamido Pedulu was fit again after a knee problem that the striker picked up during pre-season.

The Basildon game is the first in a run of three back-to-back home games for Witham, who follow Saturday's action with a game against Bury Town on Tuesday and then an FA Trophy tie against Coggeshall Town the following Friday.