MANAGER Tom Killick has warned the bookmakers against installing Poole Town as Southern League champions-elect just yet.

Dolphins bounced back from their only home league defeat of the season against Redditch United last month to register five wins in six unbeaten Premier Division outings.

Tuesday’s 3-0 victory over Chesham United, coupled with Weymouth’s 5-1 loss at high-fliers Corby Town 24 hours later, extended to five points Poole’s advantage over the Terras.

As a result, the Tatnam outfit has been installed as odds-on favourite for the crown at 1-8 ahead of Saturday’s trip to promotion-chasing Truro City (3pm).

But Killick insists the title race is far from clear-cut and predicts a series of stern examinations from top to bottom as the race for Conference South football intensifies.

Killick told the Daily Echo: “With the way opposing teams are performing against us, I can see every game being really difficult and there is still an awful lot of work to do.

“It was nice to sit back and let Corby and Weymouth battle it out on Wednesday knowing we would gain significantly on at least one of them but I do feel that we will have it all on to maintain our position, even against the so-called lesser sides.

“You can see why people have put us in that position but we have had a sticky spell and so have Weymouth and all the others.

“Any team could suddenly lose two or three on the spin and the whole complexion would change.

“We have to stop ourselves getting sidetracked by any of that and just keep trying to churn out results, which is no easy task in such an unpredictable league.”

Ex-Cherries winger Harrison Gilkes is unlikely to recover from his ankle injury in time to feature at Treyew Road with defender Will Spetch also unlikely to be risked.

Dolphins: (from) Hutchings, Tallack, Lindsay, Walker, Whisken, Pettefer, Burbidge, Devlin, Davis, Quigley, Gillespie, Brooks, Close, Roberts, Spetch, Cunniffe-Pilley.