Their manager may be playing down his team’s chances of finishing in the Skrill Premier play-off places, but Braintree Town’s players know they have the quality to achieve a top-five spot this season.

Boss Alan Devonshire feels the Iron’s punishing run of games will hamper their efforts.

Tomorrow’s trip to Gateshead will be followed by equally arduous journeys to Southport and FC Halifax Town on Tuesday and Thursday and Devonshire recognises the toll that a run like that can take on his players.

So the boss is being realistic about their chances of making the play-offs, but while central defender Dean Wells understand his manager’s reservations, he isn’t going to rule out the possibility of a top-five finish.

Wells said: “We’ll play it down because of all the games we’ve got to fit in, but I’ll be honest with you and say, with the boys we’ve got, anything is possible.

“I’m not going to say ‘yeah, we’re going to make it’ because I don’t want to give anyone false hope, but we’ve got a good enough squad to reach the play-ofs."

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