After being unceremoniously dumped out of the Dudley Eve Trophy with a 5-1 drubbing at the hands of PHC on Boxing Day, Devonshire Cougars are hoping they can regroup in time to resume battle for Premier League supremacy this weekend.

While leaders PHC are expected to hold onto their position at the expense of seventh-placed Somerset Trojans at Somerset, fourth-placed Cougars will be aiming for nothing less than maximum points in what promises to be a tough outing against sixth-placed North Village at Bernard Park.

The big question facing Cougars is whether they will be able to shrug off any ill effects from the embarrassing defeat against the Zebras.

Player and assistant coach Shawn Smith, however, believes they can bounce back and continue to make a serious challenge for the league title.

"That setback against PHC should have no bearing on what's ahead," said Smith. "We knew our poor performance in that match came from a lack of preparation and if the players check out their contribution they would all agree. But we are not going to let that result hinder our progress, we are going to learn from our mistakes and carry on."

Whether they win the league title or not, Cougars are already enjoying one of their best seasons in decades. After winning the Martonmere Cup, they find themselves in the unfamiliar position of challenging for league honours midway through the campaign.

Smith said one of his goals was to qualify for the Dudley Eve so that Cougars would be comfortably placed at the halfway stage and could make a serious run for the title in the new year.

He admitted that being knocked out of the Dudley Eve had its advantages as it gave them more time to recover and prepare for the resumption of league action.

"I guess you can say that the Dudley Eve was somewhat of a distraction in terms of playing so many games within a short period," he added. "Not being there would have given us a little break. But our goal was to qualify so that we would be well placed at that time of the season.

"Now I can say that our aim is to keep well placed in the table and not to drop any early points. If we lose and Village win then they go ahead of us, the same applies to fifth-placed Dandy Town, so it puts pressure on us not to lose any matches.

"Our aim now is to finish as high as possible. If we can't win the league then we want to finish among the top three at least and we also want to make a good run at the Friendship Trophy."'

One thing Cougars don't want after such a bright start is a battle against relegation, a situation in which they have found themselves many times in the past.

Smith's hoping that those are days are long gone.

"We don't want to get drawn into any relegation fight, we want to capitalise on the good season we have had so far," he said. "The first half has been fine and we have to realise what got us to this point and strive to maintain the momentum."

Smith himself has been bothered by injury this season that has kept him out of a couple of games, leaving the defence and his centre-back position shaky. But he said there were no real health concerns as the team entered the run-in.

"I am not match fit but I was able to make it through 90 minutes in two Dudley Eve games and I am coming along okay," said Smith.

"Devon Brangman has a knee injury and Corey Smith should be back from suspension and overall we should go into the second half in fairly good shape."

Sunday's other matches are also interesting with Dudley Eve champions and second-placed Wolves taking on Dandy Town and third-placed Devonshire Colts entertaining last-placed St. George's at White Hill.