Top two will give a health check on where AFC are at

Lee Norfolk says the next two games will be a great gauge of how far a revamped AFC Sudbury side have come, writes Russell Claydon.

The Yellows head into successive fixtures against the Bostik League North Division’s top two sides on Saturday, when leaders AFC Hornchurch visit King’s Marsh (3pm) before travelling to Bowers & Pitsea the following weekend, in great shape.

The 0-0 draw at Tilbury on Saturday ended a run of four straight wins but means 10th-place AFC have not conceded a goal in almost four games and six hours of football.

“It’s nice to be able to keep clean sheets and pick up points instead of conceding in the last 10 minutes,” said assistant manager Norfolk.

“We have got the top two next and they will be two good challenges that will let us see how far we have come.

“I thought we did really well away at Hornchurch, conceding only one goal and they were really frustrated.

“Against Bowers we were 4-0 up at half-time (4-3 win) so it will not just be us seeing how far we have come. They will not be under-estimating us.”

Norfolk said striker Phil Kelly (hamstring) is ‘touch and go’ for Saturday after missing the trip to Tilbury, but otherwise they have the rare luxury of an almost fully fit squad at their disposal.