MELKSHAM Town manager Darren Perrin insists his club will not abandon their philosophy, even if they find themselves within touching distance of the Toolstation League Premier Division.

Perrin’s side, who are made up primarily of Melksham-based players, ascended to the top of the table after their 3-0 win over fellow high-fliers Bristol Manor Farm on Monday night.

It was a clash which captured the imagination of the local football fraternity as a stunning 364 fans descended on the Conigre.

However, despite his team’s show-stopping start to the season, the Melksham chief doesn’t expect his team to win their division and says that they will never resort to reaching for the chequebook in a bid to seal success.

“We won’t win the league. And that’s not me playing it down or any of that – there will come a time where other clubs will start to chuck about a bit of money,” said Perrin.

“I won’t be going to the committee saying ‘I want to sign so and so’.

“We will be sticking to our principles and our philosophy and I knew that when I came to the club “We don’t pay and we’ve got a team made up of Melksham lads.

“I will be disappointed if we don’t finish in the top six but even if we find ourselves in a position where we can win the league, we won’t waver from the way we want to do things.

“The potential at Melksham is frightening. For however short it was, we were top of our league, the Reserves were top of the Wiltshire League and our A team were top of their division in the Trowbridge & District League.

“I think there might actually have been more than 364 there. We’ve got a lot of youth teams and it was half-term, and there were officials like the chairman and vice-chairman from Chippenham Town and other clubs like Devizes there.

“It really did capture the imagination.”

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