JAKE Brown feels Halstead Town have the quality to deal with being targeted as a scalp to be taken by Thurlow Nunn League division one south rivals.

It has been a tough start to the campaign so far for the Halstead skipper as a hamstring injury picked up in pre-season has curtailed his action so far.

He did, though, get a first start in Halstead's 5-0 FA Cup defeat at London Colney on Saturday and could make his first league start when the second-placed Humbugs host leaders Wivenhoe Town in division one south at the Milbank Stadium on Tuesday night.

Having seen Halstead finish third in the table last season after spending the entire campaign in the midst of the title battle, the Humbugs captain knows other teams will view them as being among the favourites this year.

Manager Mark McLean has kept that successful side together and they will look to be pushing at the top again, but being seen as a scalp to be taken is not something that concerns Brown and he feels they can handle it if teams set up defensively against them.

Brown said: “Maybe that will be the case and we may see sides setting up differently against us because of it.

“It may mean they are harder to break down but we have to take that in our stride.

“I think we can do that and hopefully we can just go that one step further than last year."

Unlike last year, when it was only champions Hashtag United who went up, this year will see four teams promoted from division one south and Brown feels Halstead are better placed now that they were 12 months ago as they look to place themselves within that leading quartet.

“I think we’re in a much stronger position now," he added.

“We have kept the whole of the group from last year and made a couple of excellent additions, so everyone knows how each other plays and we’ve gelled as a very strong group.

“In the close season, we all went down to Brighton and bonded even more so it’s a really good bunch of lads we have here now.

“That’s going to be a key thing for us.

“It’s a massive advantage to have over teams that have brought in loads of new players."

Meanwhile, in the Thurlow Nunn League premier division tonight, STANWAY ROVERS will be looking to record a fifth straight league win when they host Whitton United and BRANTHAM ATHLETIC will hope to build on Saturday's win at Kirkley & Pakefield when they entertain Stowmarket Town.