Smith's Verdict.

"WE deserve to be where we are," said manager Peter Smith of his second-placed Kendal Town team.

"We have worked hard to play attractive attacking football and we are reaping the rewards."

Delighted with the six points form the last two games which have boosted Town's total to 15 points, more than they had going into the New Year last season, Smith said: "Who is to say what we can't achieve.

We have a good club atmosphere buzzing and it is good to see the growing crowd of support at Parkside.

I hope there will be even more down for the FA Cup match with North Ferriby tomorrow.

"Third-placed Ferriby are a good side and they have been spending big money on players over the summer.

They also had a good 3-2 win over Eastwood Town on Tuesday, but we can match anybody in this league and the lads know the FA cup qualifier is a big one for the club both in money and prestige.

With seven league wins under his belt how did he see the remainder of the season? "If we can stay free of any more injuries we can do well," said Smith.

"I took Phil Hodgson off on Tuesday as he was starting to limp, just as a precaution as I want him for the cup match.

"The problem is that we do not have a big squad and I need all the players who are performing well at the moment.

" We haven't got a midweek game next week so I am going to sit on the Reserves bench with Andy Major as they are playing a Westmorland Cup game to have a look at some of the others who are pushing for a place in the first team."