CHESHAM United boss Andy Leese has challenged his players to build on their best result of the season and haul themselves back into Southern League Premier Division promotion contention.

They beat Bath City 2-1 in the last 32 of The FA Trophy last Saturday to earn a home tie against Barrow on December 15.

But before then they have four league games which Leese believes could rescue their league challenge.

He said: “Every game matters now.

“We’ve slipped off the pace because we’ve slipped a number of games behind in the league, and perhaps we haven’t done as well as should have in a couple of games.

“But we’ve got four big fixtures now and we need to put some points on the board.

“If we can pick up nine or ten points it will get us back in the top five or six.

“Our aim is to get ourselves attached again and I believe I’ve got the squad to do it.

“There isn’t much wrong. On Saturday they set the standard and they’ve got to reach that level every single game now.”

Chris Watters and Simon Thomas scored the first-half goals that ended Bath’s interest in the competition and earned The Generals another home tie.

Leese said: “It was a fantastic result and fantastic performance.

“We deserved every bit of it, we were excellent and could have won by more.”

The question now is how far can they go?

Barrow overcame Hyde 1-0 in Tuesday’s replay after a 1-1 draw on Saturday, but they haven’t been enjoying the best of seasons in the Football Conference, where they are currently 23rd out of 24 teams.

Leese said: “We’ve got a great home draw with Barrow,but we’ve got to respect them because they are playing two levels higher than us.”

The sides will be playing for £6,000 as well as a place in the last 16.

On Saturday they host Banbury in the league.