RICHARD Luffman is backing his Alresford Town side to put a spoke in the wheel of Sydenhams Premier leaders Andover Town on Wednesday (7.45pm).

By Luffman’s own admission, the Magpies are possibly the most inconsistent side in the league.

But, having already knocked Andover out of the Hampshire Senior Cup 5-1 at Arlebury Park this term, he wouldn't put it past his eighth-placed side to inflict a first league defeat on the north Hampshire top dogs.

“Glenn Burnett has done a brilliant job at Andover,” said Luffman. “They keep signing new players and it looks as if they’re throwing lots of money at it like Moneyfields did last year.

“Both sides had a few out when we beat them in the Hampshire Cup, but we fancy our chances of beating them on Wednesday.

“I don’t think individually Andover are better than a lot of the other top sides, but they're strong as a collective unit.

“Whereas other teams are winning five or six and then drawing or losing, they’re the only ones to have put a consistent run of league results together.

“But we’ve got an idea of how we can upset them a bit. It’ll be a big result if we can get it.

“There’s a lot of interest in the game and hopefully we’ll get a good gate.”

Alresford demonstrated their inconsistency inside 90 topsy-turvy minutes at Newport IW on Saturday, but just about prised the three points from the bottom-of-the-table hosts.

With 89 minutes gone at St George’s Park, new signing Ben ‘Chalky’ White popped up with the 1-0 clincher.

What a way for the former Fleet Town and Winchester City man to mark his debut off the bench!

“Chalky, by his own admission, gave the ball away quite a bit when he came on, but he scored a brilliant goal,” said Luffman.

“He rose like a salmon at the back stick to power in a header from Geoff Dunn’s cross.

"I think every Wessex League club wanted to sign him, so it was a bit of a coup for us in the end.

"(Striker) Tom Sands has gone off for a year travelling, which is a big loss for us. Chalky's a different type of player, but he's exactly what we need."

Reflecting on the Newport result, Luffman added: “Over the 90 minutes we deserved the win.

“We missed so many chances in the first half - Dave Parry wouldn’t have been able to finish his dinner!” he laughed.

“But second half, we could barely string a pass together.

“We’re better defensively this season, but we must be the most inconsistent side in the league.

“We’re a strange outfit. We’ve beaten Sholing (FA Cup), Portchester and Horndean and drawn with Blackfield, but we’ve lost to teams around us.”