SAM Cooke has backed his Newtown side to maintain their climb up the Henshalls Shropshire Premier League.

The Recreation Ground Club beat high flying Madeley last weekend with the Newtown skipper confident his side could build on the performance.

Mid Wales’ premier side endured a testing start to the campaign but have since started climbing the table.

Cooke said: “We have lots of positives to take from what was a challenging start to the season.

“Having gained some valuable experience, we are now up to full strength with a high performing squad and a great team spirit, all of which were evident in our performance against Madeley last weekend.

Beating them proves that we are capable of competing with the best teams.”

Cooke took over the captaincy from Dave Anthony at the start of the season and hopes to emulate last season’s success with the main objective to consolidate their position in a competitive league.

Cooke said: “Going forward our goal is to win 50 per cent of our games, finish mid table and secure our spot in next year’s premier league.”

Newtown will look to maintain their winning run with the visit of bottom of the table Cound on Saturday (1pm).