Whitchurch coach Scott Sturdy has challenged his third placed side to show they are not in a false position in the Midlands One West as they prepare for Saturday’s trip to lowly Malvern.

The Reds secured a 26-3 bonus point success over Longton at Edgeley Park to further underline their credentials and are now only eight points adrift of second-placed Newbold-on-Avon who lost 41-15 at Stoke-on-Trent.

They now have a tricky run of three successive matches on the road, starting with Malvern this weekend, followed by trips to Moseley Oak and Newbold.

“We’re delighted to be third in the table, but so far we’ve played two more games at home, so we’ll have a better idea of where we are when it all pans out,” said Sturdy.

“Are we in a false position? Are we that good? That’s the question the players have to answer. Top three teams look to go to places like Malvern and win well, that’s the challenge.

“But it’s not going to be easy. I see it as a banana skin as Malvern are not a bad side. If you look at their results, they have been in contention in a lot of games, have had opportunities to win, but not quite had enough firepower.

“All it needs is for some of our players to drop off and we could come unstuck.”