MARCO Nott’s plans for the rest of the season are clear – pick up three points at Gillingham Town Reserves tomorrow (3pm) then sit and watch as Balti House’s title rivals try to knock them off the league summit.

Balti travel to Hardings Lane boasting a nine-point advantage over second-placed Chickerell, while Nott’s men are 12 points better off than Holt, the team sitting third in the Dorset Senior League.

The only problem for the Cranford Avenue outfit is that their game against the Gills is their last of the campaign, and both Chickerell and Holt have enough fixtures in hand to deny them the championship.

“It’s a tricky one,” said Nott when assessing the situation at the top of the table. “It’s always good to have points on the board.

“It’s a tough league so anything could happen in the games that are left.

“Holt are in the driving seat at the moment and they look like they are playing good football.

“They can also call on some good players so are probably favourites.

“Unfortunately for us our goal difference isn’t as good as them, but we can’t complain too much with our season.

“We’ve had a cracking season and we’re pretty much assured of fourth place at the very least.

“The number of points we have now is a bit higher than what I thought it would be at the start of the season.

“It’s just a case of getting the job done this weekend and then seeing if the other sides can chase us down, and whoever wins it out of the three of us deserves it.”

While Balti beat the Gills 4-0 in November, their opponents have won their last three games, scoring 17 goals in the process.

Nott added: “Gillingham are a strong side and it’s not going to be easy as they’ve hit some good form recently.

“You never quite know what you’re going to get when you go up there, and they beat Chickerell earlier in the season. If we play like we did last Saturday at South Cheriton then there is no reason why we can’t win.”

The Balti chief was particularly impressed with Lewis Ironside’s man-of-the-match display against South Cheriton last time out, and the latter could be joined in the midfield tomorrow by Sammy Nichols.

John Litherland, one of Balti’s key players this season, is out, as are injured duo Karl Dean and Ethan Devaney, while Ricky Lane is suspended.

Chickerell do not have a game tomorrow, Holt are away to Corfe Mullen United, and Piddletrenthide Spartans, in fourth, visit Sturminster Newton United.