MANAGER Les Jones says Malvern Town will be looking to “set the record straight” when they host Smethwick in the West Midlands League Premier Division on Saturday (3pm).

Smethwick knocked Malvern out of the FA Vase with a surprise 4-1 victory at the HDanywhere Community Stadium in September.

But with Town now riding high at the top of the league Jones expects his side to put 15th-placed Smethwick to the sword.

“We had a lot of chances in that game and didn’t take them,” he said.

“They scored goals late on as they caught us on the break so it is a match we look back on with real disappointment.

“But this is a league game and we have got real incentives to play for so we should show more desire than them.

“It will be an extremely tough game so we will have to go out there, play our brand of football, take our chances and defend well.

“This is an opportunity to set the record straight.”

Jones said he was also keen to see the game go ahead after their clash at Dudley Town was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch last Saturday.

“It was probably the only game in the area to be called off,” Jones said.

“They played a cup game on that pitch but it was not fit for a league match which was disappointing.”

But Jones was pleased to see their promotion rivals falter as Malvern hold a three-point advantage at the summit.

“Wolverhampton Sporting Community and Tividale played each other and drew and Black Country Rangers surprisingly dropped two points at home to Stone Old Alleynians,” Jones said.

“That’s a positive but it would have been better if we had played and taken three points as well.”

Goalkeeper Charlie Weaver is suspended for the Smethwick game but Jones will welcome back winger Sam Rathbone, who has returned from holiday, and fit-again midfielder Shaun Smith.

“The other positive of last weekend’s game being called off was that it gave a couple of players who were carrying knocks extra time to recover,” Jones added.

“Shaun had a back injury. He was going to have a fitness test last Saturday but hopefully that’s now cured itself.”

After tackling Smethwick, Malvern will then visit third-placed Tividale on Tuesday (7.45pm).