PETERSFIELD Town manager Ian Saunders believes his side have accomplished their most important mission of the season – hitting the 40 point mark.

Saturday’s 2-1 win over Bedford Town at Love Lane took the Rams to 41 points and barring a miracle set of results for the sides at the bottom of the table, that should keep them safe from relegation from the Southern League at the end of the season.

However, Petersfield cannot afford to rest easy as Saunders is determined to drive his troops on to finish as high up the table as they possibly can.

And that work continues tonight when the Rams host Beaconsfield SYCOB at Love Lane in Division 1 Central (kick-off 7.45pm).

“We set ourselves the 40 point target before the season got under way and it is fantastic we have got to that total with 13 matches still to play,” said Saunders.

“Getting 40 points usually ensures you are not going to get relegated and although we all had different ambitions inside the club when we stepped up to the Southern League, the club’s one target for this season was to ensure we were still a step four club at the beginning of next season.

“This is a truly fantastic achievement for the club but we must keep pushing forward and trying to get as high up the table as we can.

“We have 13 games left and eight of those are at home so we should have the confidence here at Love Lane to push on and pick up more points.”

Beaconsfield SYCOB hammered the Rams 5-0 when the two sides met back in late September.

Saunders rates it as his side’s worst performance of the season and he is keen to make up for that poor result.

He added: “We were really poor when we played up at their place – we were 4-0 down by half time and never really in the game.

“We didn’t do ourselves justice that night and I am determined we will go out at Love Lane tonight and give a much better account of ourselves against Beaconsfield and look to add another three points to our tally.”