CHAIRMAN Mick Duffy is confident Chard will be able to cope with the demands of a higher standard of rugby after the club’s dramatic promotion to the national league.

Duffy said: “I reckon we can finish mid table, but we are going to need a few more players to do it.

“I’ve spoke to players who have shown interest from elsewhere, they’ve been contacting us to say they want to progress their career as a player with us.

“But they don’t realise that we are not a big paying club and, at the moment, can’t afford to pay big wages to our squad.”

Reflecting on Chard’s 22-18 victory at Towcestrians to with the South West 1 play-off, Duffy added: “It was a great day and a great win and teams are going to get a shock when they come to Chard next season.

“It’s just nice to see them play, they decided a while back that they really wanted to work on their fitness and build their strength so the lads started boxing as part of their training.

“They’ve put teams down and taken players apart.”