COACH Scott Sturdy is not getting carried away as his side prepare for another tough encounter on Saturday when they welcome fourth-placed Walsall (2.15pm).

“Seven points is not a big gap, and we’ve got another challenging game against Walsall coming up this weekend followed by a trip to Newcastle in Staffordshire,” he said.

“We’ve just got to focus on the next few games, and hope to finish the year well before we start looking too far ahead.

“Being top of the league, we are finding sides are raising their game against us. Ludlow was a real close call but we came out the right side of it.”

He added: “We had six players missing from the previous week, but the lads who came in stepped up to the task and put in a strong performance.

“Ludlow made it very difficult for us. They did not commit to the breakdown, and put men right across the pitch, so it was a real challenge to find a way through.

“Defensively we have been very good this season, but we need to be more clinical and take our chances when they come along.

“The heavy pitches at this stage of the season are not helping us as it is difficult to play free-flowing rugby, but we are still finding ways to win.”