Steve Holder believes Mildenhall Town should be aiming for a top-four finish this season

Following back-to-back league wins over Ipswich Wanderers (3-1) and Fakenham Town (2-0) under new management in Dean Greygoose, Mildenhall have climbed to 10th in the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division, just four points short of the top six.

And Holder, who led the line for Hall against AFC Sudbury in a Suffolk Premier Cup quarter-final tie last night, believes that a top-six finish is the least Mildenhall should be aiming for this season.

“If you look at the league table, a couple of wins gets you a long way,” said Holder, who has scored five goals in his last three games.

“Two wins on the bounce can get you right back up there, and in this league, it’s been proved that anyone can beat anyone.

“If you can get a little run going, you can move up the table pretty quickly and hopefully we’ll be able to keep doing that.

“We’ve got a good squad here with good players, and in my opinion we should really be aiming for the top four.”

In a strange and topsy-turvy season for the west Suffolk side, a recent change of manager has seemingly worked wonders.

Former boss Christian Appleford parted company with the club a little over three weeks ago as results continued to elude him, but a fresh start under Greygoose has seen Hall win two of their last three matches the former AFC Sudbury stopper has been in charge of.

“Dean’s a top bloke, and he wants to win,” Holder added, who netted against Fakenham on Saturday as well as scoring a brace against Ipswich Wanderers earlier in the month, alongside a further two goals in a 6-2 Red Insure Cup defeat at Godmanchester Rovers recently.

“He’s always been a winner, and is mentally very strong, something that he’s helped drum into the players since coming in.

“He doesn’t take any stick and tells players when they’re not playing well.

“It was sad to see Christian go as I have a huge amount of respect for him on and off the pitch, but it’s good to have someone come in who has fresh ideas.

“When Dean came in, he knew he was inheriting a good squad, he just needed to give us a bit of confidence, and he’s certainly giving us that boost we need.

“As we grow more confident, we can hopefully continue to push on up the league.”

Holder was pleased with Saturday’s win as Hall kept their first clean sheet in seven games.

Defender David Werthmann returned to league action after missing the victory over Wanderers, and played a key part in the success.

Alongside James Patterson, Holder was on target against Fakenham, scoring his 10th goal in for Hall since re-joining from Bury Town earlier in the season, where he netted three times.

“I’m doing alright, I’ve hit a bit of form,” Holder continued.

“As long as we’re winning, I don’t care who is scoring.

“That said, I wouldn’t mind reaching the 25, possibly 30 goal mark for the season, there’s still a long way to go.”

Following last night’s Premier Cup tie, where if Hall were able to provide an upset, they would move into the final four of the competition alongside Lowestoft Town, Leiston, and Whitton United, Greygoose’s men have two big league fixtures to look forward to before the year ends.

On the road at Hadleigh on Saturday (December 20), Hall host Newmarket a week later (December 27) in a pair of eagerly-anticipated Suffolk derbies.

“Both games will be good ones, and to be fair, we owe both teams one,” added Holder.

“We never seem to get a result at Hadleigh, and likewise against Newmarket – I can’t remember the last time we beat them!”

With renewed confidence, Hall will look to end 2014 strongly, and should they triumph in these derbies, could find themselves in and around the top six sooner rather than later.