SOUTHERN LEAGUE

IAIN Harvey is fighting fit and ready to inject some passion into the Chippenham Town cause.

The dynamic midfielder was instrumental in the Bluebirds' FA Trophy comeback against Didcot on Saturday alongside stand-in skipper Mark Badman.

Harvey's tenacious tackling and sensible distribution stopped the visitors in their tracks after the Railwaymen threatened to run away with game in the first half.

And although Chippenham lost the replay in Didcot on Tuesday night, Harvey's contribution in the middle of the park did not go unnoticed.

"I've been lucky enough to get a run of games in the team and that has helped a lot," said Harvey.

"I feel I'm getting back to the kind of form I was showing at the end of last season.

"Darren and Adie have stuck by me and I want to repay them both with some good performances."

Harvey missed much of pre-season with several niggling injuries which have taken him much longer to shake off than expected.

His commitment to self-improvement set his recovery back when he aggravated the problem doing some extra training.

But four months into the new Southern League season, Harvey believes he is close to full fitness and ready to inspire the Bluebirds once more.

He said: "My game is all about getting around the pitch, getting tackles in and breaking up the opposition's attacks.

"When you're not fully fit you will always be second to the ball in midfield.

"I've been doing some extra training away from the club, which is probably why I picked up a few more knocks.

"But hopefully I'm over the worst of it now and can concentrate on my football again."

Harvey remains confident Chippenham will make a success of their season if the team can eradicate the defensive errors which saw them concede six goals in two matches against Didcot.

"We've had lapses in concentration this season that we didn't have last year," he said.

"Nobody can question the passion and commitment of the team. We just need to keep working hard and the results will come."

Harvey conceded Chippenham's recent poor run of form has affected the self-belief of some of the players.

And he's desperate to inspire his team-mates in any way he can ahead of tomorrow's trip to Yate.

"As a team we are not low on confidence, just not as confident as we were at this stage last year.

"Then we were always taking the lead in matches and the goals we scored helped to breed confidence throughout the team.

"The sooner we get back to that the better it will be for everyone. I'm sure we'll go on to score lots more goals if we get the first one."

Chippenham have conceded first in four of their last six matches, a statistic that will not make happy reading for boss Darren Perrin.

The Blues will be hoping for a repeat of last season's performance at Yate, when goals from strikers' Dave Gilroy and Alan Griffin gave the visitors a narrow 2-1 win.