Cirencester Town boss Charlie Griffin is expecting a closely contested game when the Centurions take on Evesham United on Saturday.
Griffin's men have had a mixed week after a 6-2 win over Thatcham was followed by a 3-0 defeat to Didcot Town in the Challenge Cup in midweek.
Evesham sit one place above Cirencester in seventh in the Evo-Stik Southern Division One South and Griffin envisages a tight affair.
"I went to watch Evesham and they're a good side," he said. "They're on a run of no wins in five but they're around us in the league.
"I think sooner rather than later it'll click for them but hopefully it isn't on Saturday."
Cirencester league form has been mixed and they've exited both the FA Cup and FA Trophy in recent weeks.
After finishing so strongly last season, Griffin believes his team have earned further respect and feels opponents up their game as a result.
"Teams look at us because of what we did last season so if we're not at our level we get punished," he explained.
"People see us as favourites so we have to up our game against us so we have to be better than our previous game.
"We have a very talented squad and had a good performance against Thatcham. We scored some great goals, if our first one was on TV they'd be raving about it for months."
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