BRADFORD and Bingley captain Ed Brown is aware of the challenge his side face this weekend, with a trip to Methley on the cards.

The hosts have started the season brightly, winning four out of their first nine Bradford Premier League fixtures, earning themselves a spot in fifth.

Brown's side remain in ninth and following a painful defeat to Wrenthorpe in the previous round of league fixtures, he hopes his side can bounce back, but concedes it will be no easy fixture.

He said: "We are confident, but they are a good side so it will be a tough fixture.

"I think they have probably achieved more than some people gave them credit for at the start of the season.

"They've got a very good bowling attack. Young Alex Cree is performing well for them, and Chippendale has got a lot of wickets for them too, so they are a good side.

"I think there is some questions about whether their Yorkshire players will play, but we are going to go into it with confidence. Unfortunately, George Hill will be out for us because he will be with the Yorkshire 20/20 side."

In their previous league outing, Bradford and Bingley suffered a four-wicket loss at home to Wrenthorpe, and with both sides in touching distance of one and other, Brown admitted it was a tough one to swallow.

He said: "It was definitely a blow. We put in a pretty average performance, and we had a good and honest conservation afterwards, and we were probably 40 runs short.

"We didn't bowl well, and we dropped Matthew Race on three occasions, and he went on to get 88 not out, so it was one of them games.

"It was a bad loss, particularly in the context of the league table."

Brown added: "A win this weekend would be really nice, because if you look at the tale of our season, it has been very inconsistent. We had a great win against Hanging Heaton and then we didn't back it up against Wrenthorpe.

"We are capable of beating anyone on our day, but we just need to find the consistency and have more of those days.

"If we do get a win against Methley coming into the mid-point of the season, then hopefully it will give us the impetus to surge up the table. As we've seen, it's quite a tight league and there is an opportunity to claw our way back up the table, if we put a run together."

Speaking to the T&A at the beginning of the Bradford Premier League campaign, Brown suggested, although his side was young, they may challenge for the title, but halfway through the season, he has suggested it may be out of reach.

He said: "We've spoken internally, and a title push is probably out of the realms, given how inconsistent we are, but we will fight on, and we will go for the T20 cup."