Brentwood captain Joe Buttleman says he is ‘extremely confident’ despite missing key players for their match against Essex League Premier Division outfit Ilford.

Buttleman and his side travel to Valentines Park tomorrow (Saturday) to take on the seventh placed side as they look to chase down leaders Wanstead.

“They’ve had a tough season, but they’ve still got one or two match winners like (Ashar) Zaidi, who when he’s not playing county cricket makes it tough for anyone, but we’re confident we can come away with a win,” said Buttleman.

“We try not to focus on what players other teams have got, as I think we have the players in the squad to go and get a result and if we show up like we have recently they won’t stand a chance.”

Brentwood will be missing the captain, as well as younger brother Will, James Redwood and Guy Balmford for the tie, but welcome Rishi Patel back into the line-up for the clash.

“I have got a few issues with selection, as I tore my hamstring on Saturday in the field, hopefully it won’t be too long, but it’s looking like four week right now,” added Buttleman.

“Guy is still out, but we’re hoping he can come back soon.

“James Redwood is also out for this weekend.

“Rishi Patel is back, but Will is unavailable.

“Will will be a miss, but it gives others a chance to step up and also the others who haven’t had much of a chance to bat in the last month their chance.”

The skipper believes the task of chasing down defending champions Wanstead is looking harder each week, but they are going to try everything they can to claw back the 10 points.

“We’re looking forward to the run-in and it all starts on Saturday,” Buttleman said.

“We’ve got to win every game now, as I can’t see them losing any more games.

“I can’t see them slipping up against any of the other teams, so we have to go there and produce a good performance when we play them.”

The captain also admitted they can’t be too worried about chasing Wanstead and must focus on each game as it comes.

“We need to just focus on this Saturday first,” he said.

“Our top four has been very consistent, so it’s exciting times for us right now.”

The match at Valentines Park starts at 12.30pm.