Kyle Lightbourne is pleased to see Robin Hood leading the chase for promotion spots, a position he expects them to be in.

The Hood coach saw his side slide into the second tier of domestic football after finishing second from the bottom last season, but is spearheading their revival back to the top flight at the first time of asking.

Having a “more committed” squad this time around, the former Stoke City striker is satisfied with the early stages of the league campaign.

“This season we have a better group of players from last year; they are more committed and dedicated to what we want to do,” Lightbourne said. “Last term, we didn’t have a full-strength team for the majority of the season due to work, family and other commitments, and you have to understand that.

“It is never good to play matches without your best players and this time around we have been getting good numbers out to training.

“With this being said, it is reflective in our results.”

His merry men are atop the First Division table with 14 points, one point ahead of Devonshire Colts and St George’s Colts, and will fancy their chances extending their winning streak to two match when they face mid-table BAA at Goose Gosling Field on Saturday (8pm).

They recently played both Colts sides, grabbing a point against Devonshire Colts in a goalless draw at home two weeks ago before beating St George’s 3-0 last weekend.

Helping their own cause in the race for promotion, they have lost only one match, to Boulevard, while chalking up four wins and two draws.

They also possess the league’s stingiest defence, conceding a meagre six goals from seven games, a statistic that will bode well for them in their race for a top-two finish.

For Lightbourne, however, there was never a doubt in his mind where his side should be come the end of the season,

“Looking at the players that we still have after the transfer window and a few additions to the team, I was looking for us to be in the top three,” he said. “So we are in the mix and it is a tight race.

“We are where we want to be. We are top and it is good for the guys to get their reward for the hard work they put in.

“We have played the top two teams in our last two matches and got four points from it, so we are happy.

“You always want to get points against those sides close to you and to get the points, especially with the St George’s result, that put us on top over them. It is all positives at the moment.”

Another promising facet that the coach brought to light is Hood’s ability to control matches for long spells and turning that domination into results. The one exception was the 3-1 defeat by Boulevard on October 10th, when they were genuinely outplayed, “Besides our game against Boulevard where we didn’t play well and they had the better possession in the match, we have been fairly comfortable in our play,” Lightbourne added.

“Against Devonshire Colts, we controlled the first half and up until the sendings-off we were on top and they had the better second half.

“In the St George’s match, I think that they were complacent and thought they had won before they stepped on to the field and we got that result as well. So we are a team that is capable of being there at the end and we just need to keep up the hard work.

“It is a long way to go. We still have to play everyone again, but we want to be where we are rather than in the pack fighting to get the second spot.

“If you can be in the running for either the title or second you are in a good spot.”