Romford boss Paul Martin is expecting a tough game when his side takes on Cheshunt tonight.

Despite being 17th in the Ryman One North table, the Hertfordshire outfit thrashed the Boro 4-0 back in September and Martin is taking nothing for granted.

He said: “Cheshunt beat us 4-0 earlier in the season so it would be nice to get one over on them.

“They’re one of the better footballing sides we’ve faced so it will be a tough game.”

Tonight’s clash starts a punishing run of three games in five days as the season draws to a close.

Romford welcome Heybridge Swifts and Ware to Ship Lane on Saturday and Tuesday respectively.

With Martin admitting his side won’t make the play-offs this season, it’s an opportunity to rest players and look ahead to the next campaign.

He said: “I’m going to rotate a few players, there are a few with slight knocks and we’ve got the under-18 and youth players if needs be.

“It’s a good chance to see if they might be good enough to step up for next season.

“But we want to win the games and finish as high up the table as possible.

“If we match or better last season’s finish that would be great but if we come in the top 10 that would be a good achievement because it’s a very strong league this year.”

Romford’s eight game winning run came to an end with a 2-1 defeat at Tilbury on Saturday as Danny Aldwinckle’s doubled rendered James Ishmail’s strike irrelevant.

Although The Boro bounced back with a 2-0 win in the A12 derby at Barkingside thanks to strikes from Reece Tranter and Ryan Imbert, Martin is clear why his side have not mounted a play-off challenge.

“I’ve explained to the boys you can’t beat Needham Market and VCD Athletic but lose to Tilbury and Brentwood if you want to make the play-offs,” Romford’s manager said.

“We were bound to trip up sooner or later and it happened that it was against Tilbury.

“And Barkingside was one of toughest games of the last few months. They’re fighting hard against relegation and when they went down to 10 men they had nothing to lose.”