Capel Plough boss Archie Arnold has admitted that his side’s encounter against 2012/13 SIL Senior Division Champions Ipswich Valley Rangers this weekend is probably the ‘worst possible time’ to play them.

Rangers travel to fifth-placed Capel on the back of a shock 2-1 defeat to lowly-placed Old Newton last week and haven’t lost back-to-back league games since October of last year.

With that in mind, Arnold is under no illusions of how much of a challenge his side will face this Saturday.

“They lost surprisingly last week and will still be hurting,” said Arnold.

“It is probably the worst time to play them to be honest but we can’t help the fixture list so will give it our best shot.”

Capel currently sit four points behind Rangers in a tight battle at the top of the league, but a victory on Saturday would leave them just one point behind their opponents and still with a game in hand.

Arnold has been surprised with his side’s excellent start to the season – one that keeps them in touch with ‘the big three’ of Rangers, Grundisburgh and Achilles.

“We’ve had a brilliant start, better than I expected,” said Arnold, who took the reigns at a previously struggling Capel in December last year before leading them to an impressive sixth-placed finish.

He continued: “We’re probably three to six points better off than I thought we would be.”

Arnold’s men currently boast a 100% win ratio on the road but have lost three out of their five encounters at home this season, something that frustrates Arnold.

He said: “Our home form hasn’t been what I’ve wanted but our away form has been excellent so it’s a case of swings and roundabouts.”

Arnold isn’t getting carried away though and is still targeting a points mark that will see his side in the SIL Senior next year.

“We want to reach 30 points and move forward from there.

“Security is first and foremost what we’re after and once that is achieved you never know – we might even achieve a top six finish again,” he said.

In the pick of the other Senior games this weekend, leaders Achilles travel to Cranes in another top of the table clash that could leave very interesting reading come Saturday evening.

Wenhaston also host Leiston St Margarets in what promises to be a tasty local derby with plenty of goalmouth action.