MARK Tallentire is slowly but surely guiding Bracknell Town out of troubled waters, writes Dave Wright.

The Robins remain second from bottom of the Hellenic League’s Premier Division despite taking four points from their latest two home matches – a 2-1 win over Oxford City and a 0-0 draw with Tuffley Rovers.

But they could move out of the bottom two if they beat Abingdon United, the side immediately above them, when they meet in a vital clash at Larges Lane this Saturday (3pm).

Bracknell trail both Abingdon and Brackley Town by three points, but have a vastly superior goal difference.

“We are heading in the right direction, which is the main thing for me,” said Tallentire.

“We have spoken about closing the gap to the teams just above us and were are doing just that, and Abingdon is a big game for us.”

The Robins manager was far from despondent after seeing his side held at home by fellow bottom six side Tuffley.

“It is a point gained in our situation,” said Tallentire. “There were positives to come out of the game with another clean sheet and it’s now three games (two in the league and a cup tie) without a loss.”

He added: “We created the best chances in the first half and if one of those goes in the game would have changed, but both sides cancelled each other out in the second half and there weren’t too many clear-cut chances at either end.

“It was also very blustery and the conditions didn’t help as both sides like to knock the ball about.”

Once again, Tallentire was forced to make late team changes with a number of players unavailable and gave a debut to former Binfield winger Seb Bowerman.

“He flitted in and out of the game and looked as though he needs a bit of sharpening up,” said the manager.

“We also gave Danny Roberts a blast. He is a good young player who has made the last 32 of the England under-16 squad.

“He has a nice bit of quality about him which he showed when he came on. At times we are looking quite solid going forward.

“Adam Cornell deserves a special mention. He wasn’t feeling great, but he put in a right big shift and I take my hat off to him.”

Robins were without the suspended Johnie Dyer and the striker will also miss Saturday’s important match. Bracknell will be seeking a double, having won 3-1 at Abingdon in October.

Their home derby with Ascot United on Sunday, December 29 will kick off at 1pm.

The Yellamen are currently occupying a top-four place in the table and are very much in the title race despite having played more games than their rivals.

Manager Jeff Lamb said: “Teams have got games in hand on us but, while we have played most of the current six at least once, several others have still to play each other and everyone is beating each other.

"We are doing okay at the moment and need to keep on winning to keep the pressure on the others.”

Ascot face Milton at the Racecourse Ground this Saturday, followed by Bracknell and then Binfield at home on January 2.

Meanwhile, three Hellenic League sides, reigning champions Flackwell Heath, Kidlington and Thatcham, have all applied for promotion to step four of the English non-league pyramid.

Flackwell turned down promotion last season due to the high travelling costs after being placed in the Evo-Stik South West.