Barkingside manager Michael Walther expects to face a ‘quick and lively’ Woodford Town side when the two sides clash at Cricklefield Stadium on Saturday (3pm).

Walther’s men go into the game eight points and seven places below their opponents, having recorded their first win in nine matches at Burnham Ramblers last weekend.

Roddy Lemba scored twice in the 5-1 success, with Ryan Imbert and Matheus Santos also on target, as the hosts conceded an own goal.

But the Blues boss is wary of the threat Woodford will pose, although he also believes his team can pick up another result.

“They will be a quick and lively side, but we are certainly capable of getting a result, so it should be an entertaining game,” said Walther, who also picked out midfielders Larry Assare and Andre Bennett as the potential danger men for the visitors.

“They have a guy on the left hand side called Larry Assare who is a very good winger, as well as a midfielder called Andre Bennett.

“Both of them will be the danger men for them.”

Should Barkingside pick up the points on Saturday they could potentially move up three places to 14th and continue the progression Walther has been so pleased with.

“To be where we are now with the win on Saturday shows we are making progress.

“I know results aren’t always going to go our way but I expect now to start seeing consistent performances game after game, then we can push up to mid-table.”

One of the keys to success at Leslie Field, which lifted Barkingside out of the bottom four, was the return of certain players.

Walther added: “We had some available that were not in the run-up to Christmas. When you have more players available – your main players – you will get a better performance.”

Barkingside bowed out of the Challenge Cup on Monday, though, as they lost a penalty shoot-out against Basildon.

Ryan Imbert netted as the match ended in a 1-1 draw, but the visitors went on to triumph 4-3 on spot-kicks and Walther said: “It’s not an easy one to take, but at the same time to draw with a team who are third in the table and going for promotion is a massive positive.”