LOUIS Langdown anticipates exciting times ahead at AFC Totton, irrespective of how this season’s play-off chase pans out.

With ten games to go, Totton sit eighth in the Evo-Stik South West, just a point shy of the play-off zone – some achievement considering their main target was mid-table respectability when the campaign kicked off in August.

In that sense they are in a win-win situation heading into Saturday's (3pm) showdown against sixth-placed Bristol Manor Farm at the Total Branding Community Stadium.

Last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Bideford was a setback, but boss Langdown said: “Ultimately we didn’t think we’d be this far up the league.

"We’re going to be safe and it’s an exciting challenge for myself and the staff to think: ‘How can we get past the Bidefords and Eveshams of this world who are always in and around it?

“Most of these players have never known a promotion charge before and the next challenge is how we get to the next level.

“The lessons we’ve learned from the likes of Bideford will help us move forward and we’ll have to ask ourselves whether this team will be good enough next year because of the experiences they’ve had this season or do we need to improve it.

“Last season (when Langdown inherited a struggling side) we’d have taken anyone to help us. Now we’re thinking we can possibly cherry-pick players to help us going forward.

“We are still in there fighting and we will keep going. We have beaten Bristol and Didcot this season and drawn with Taunton, Evesham and Wimborne, who all sit above us, and lost by the odd goal at Swindon and Bideford when it could have gone either way.

“We know we can compete and that’s a great feeling to have.”

Looking forward to Saturday's game, Langdown added: “It’s good to be playing the sides around us.

“If we’re going to learn how to handle pressure situations, we need these games.

“Since I’ve been manager, the best 45 minutes we’ve played was when we went 3-0 at Bristol Manor Farm (on the way to a 3-2 win).

“It was a cracker of a game, so if we can edge out another thriller by the odd goal, then last week at Bideford will have maybe served its purpose in our learning curve.

“Let’s just see if we can finish as high as possible.”

Totton have a question mark over on-loan Aldershot defender Jack Barker who pulled up with a groin problem at Bideford.