Halstead Town’s players have been set a New Year target.

January looks likely to be a key month in the Humbugs’ drive for Thurlow Nunn League honours this season and manager Mark Benterman is asking for a big division one points haul as well as First Division Knockout Cup progress.

Benterman feels his team’s performances in their last two outings – particularly in their trip to Great Yarmouth just before Christmas – have given renewed belief that they can press on for promotion this season.

They followed a 1-1 draw in Norfolk with a 2-2 draw against local rivals Haverhill Borough in front of a crowd of 165 at Rosemary Lane on Boxing Day, that Benterman felt they were unlucky not to win.

So he is hoping his team can capitalise on their confidence in their forthcoming fixtures, starting with Saturday’s game at Woodbridge Town.

He said: “It’s a big month – we have set a target and given the players an incentive to reach it.

“Four league wins and a League Cup quarter-final win is something we can achieve and I believe it’s possible after what we achieved against Haverhill.

“They had been smashing teams recently and I felt we made them look average for 80 per cent of the game.

“It’s a great position to be in for us where we are.

“At this stage of the year around Christmas, you want to be in the mix and we are there.

“There are also several reserve sides around us, who can’t go up, so they are taking points off sides and we’re effectively in an even stronger position.

“But this is a big month coming up for us.

“It should be 12 points on paper, but the way the league has been this year, it hasn’t always been that way.

“However, we’ll go to Woodbridge looking for a result and the three points because we need to make sure we are in there fighting come the end of January.

“After the Yarmouth result, we’ve seen that there is a great sense of belief in the squad.

“So come the first of February, if we have taken nine to 12 points and are in a cup semi-final, then we’ll be going where we want to be.

“I feel the mentality of the lads has changed since that game at Yarmouth as they know they can go places like that and get results.

“We’ve come away from the last two tough games disappointed not to have six points from them.

“We know they are games we should have won, so we have to make sure we get the result at Woodbridge.”

Benterman said full-back James Regan is “knocking on the door” for a return after recovering from his hip flexor problem.