CLACH boss Iain Polworth believes Saturday's Highland League opponents Nairn County are still serious title contenders.

The Lilywhites will look to avenge the 3-0 defeat they suffered at the hands of Nairn at Station Park earlier this season, but Polworth knows it won't be an easy task.

Nairn are 10 points off the pace of runaway league leaders Forres Mechanics, having played a game more, but Polworth insists they aren't out of the running yet.

He said: "Nairn are still in with a shout of winning the league. There are five teams up there looking to win it and Nairn without a doubt will have a say in what happens. They have beaten the league leaders recently and it doesn't come any better than that. Their defensive record is second to none and they are riding high. It will be a very difficult game for us."

The manager knows a derby clash is more important than many for the players.

He said: "We definitely see the game as something of a local derby. It is exciting and we look forward to games like these more.

"We competed for a half against them earlier in the season down there and then they stepped up through the gears. We lost and they have been going well ever since. We will go there and aim to compete for longer."

Clach's game away to Turriff United was postponed due to a frozen pitch on Saturday, meaning the side has not played since December 23.

Despite working hard in training, Polworth knows the real test of his players' fitness will come in a competitive fixture.

He said: "We are getting desperate for a game now. It really is dragging on, having not played in weeks, and even then we had a period of inactivity in the weeks before that.

"We're still training but nothing is quite like playing a game for fitness.

"We would have been without a couple of players on Saturday, such as Matt Kennedy. You lose some through training knocks, especially when you are training indoors.

"Everybody picks up niggles, but the majority of the squad will be available."