Ian Allinson wants St Albans City fans to enjoy their current lofty position – but warned there was still a long way to go.

Tuesday’s 4-0 victory over Poole Town moved Saints into third position in the Vanarama National League South.

And while the City boss is delighted with the team’s current form, he knows there are tough tests ahead, starting with league leaders Maidenhead United on Saturday.

He said: “[Our form] is pleasing as the players have responded really well.

“We’ve pushed them at times and we probably go over the top with what we expect from them at times because it’s a squad we’ve put together over the summer. They’re players we do know but it’s always difficult when you put a squad together.

“But if someone had said at the start of the season we’d be in this position, I’d have snapped their hand off.

“But it’s nine games out 42. They are some big teams in this league. I went to watch Chelmsford and Ebbsfleet and they are two big teams.

“So we know we’ll have to up our game to another level if we’re going to compete with these sides. But lets take it and enjoy it while we here because it’s a long season.

“Things will change. The pitches will get heavy and the one thing about this league is if you take your foot off the pedal for one moment, you will get a kick in the backside.

“We’ve seen that from where we are now to where we were last season. We’ve just got to keep believing in what we’re doing.

“We’re going to take some knocks and when we do, we’ve got to bounce back. But after the defeats to Bath and Hampton we’ve bounced back straight away and it’s important to take that into the Maidenhead game.”

Saturday’s game at York Road sees Saints come face to face with a side and a player in top form.

Maidenhead have won seven of their opening nine games and in Dave Tarpey they have the league’s top scorer with 12 goals.

Allinson added: “I think Alan [Devonshire] has done a fantastic job. He knows the league inside out and we know it’s going to be tough going there.

“We’ve just got to believe in ourselves. We’ve got some good players and when they gel like they did against Poole, we can cause upsets.

“If we go there and believe in ourselves, play with confidence and get on the front foot, we can maybe cause them a few problems. But we also need to be aware of what they’ve got going forward.

“We won there last year when we were in a relegation battle so hopefully we can go there and get something this season.”