TNS travel to the capital to take on Cardiff Metropolitan tonight (Friday) with manager Scott Ruscoe backing his side to maintain their current form.

The defending JD Welsh Premier champions have found form following their opening night defeat at Bangor City with an unbeaten run since seeing them rise to a point off the summit.

“We’re going in the right direction,” said manager Scott Ruscoe. “I think we’re back to how TNS should be. People outside of the club are always looking for chinks in our armour that can get second, third or fourth place teams challenging.

“They want to make it difficult for us so any loss or draw, or even a below par performance is highlighted and people jump on the bandwagon asking what’s wrong with TNS.

“But they’ll see we’ve had a good run of results back and we’re back to where we are. Being in the top four or five teams will unnerve some of the other teams.

“We’ve got to play top, second and fourth so we just have to look after our work and make sure everything we do is positive. We don’t need to look too far ahead, just every game.”

Ruscoe will continue to use his squad with competition for places high at Park Hall following another resounding victory at home to local rivals Cefn Druids last week.

“We’re going to see how the lads train because those who came in did very well,” said Ruscoe.

Wes Fletcher returns to contention while Chris Seargeant, Greg Draper and Adrian Cieslewicz are all vying for starting berths with the solitary fitness doubt over Aeron Edwards.

“We’re being a little cautious with Aeron Edwards and taking it slowly with him,” said Ruscoe. “He had a rest at the weekend and we’ll look at him this week.”