REDDITCH United boss Rod Brown believes his side can defy all the odds and now finish in the top half of the new Nationwide Conference North this season.

The Reds moved just two places off the top six after the thumping 3-0 victory over Bradford Park Avenue - and, now Brown believes his side can cement their place in the higher echelons of the league.

"When we began the season, we thought that finishing fourth from bottom would be a major achievement," said Brown who saw goals from Simon Hollis, Sean Flynn and Matthew Clarke seal all the spoils against nine-men Bradford. "But winning breeds confidence and I can't see any reason why we can't go on from here.

"Before Bradford, I said that if we could take seven points from the next three games we can push ourselves into the top six and with home games against teams below us in the league, Gainsborough and Ashton, coming up - we're on course to do that."

Brown knows that the club could put themselves firmly on the national non-league map - if they can retain their Conference North status, following their two-league jump from the Dr Martens Western Division under restructuring plans.

"Redditch United Football Club will be able to enjoy a massive boost to its profile if we can stay in the division. There's also talk of some £400,000 in funding becoming available to improve the ground, so it's all to play for."

Brown also saved special praise for the Reds fans that made the trip to Bradford, heralding them as playing a major part of the club's on-going success.

"There was a 75-seater supporters coach that travelled to Bradford and we managed to find some room on our team bus for more," added Brown.

Meanwhile, Brown has opted to call in his high-flying troops for training this Saturday after Nuneaton Borough re-arranged their League Cup clash.

It means Andy Penny will be given more time to recover from injury, but Neil Manton needs an operation on his knee. Brown has also extended striker Scott Voice's loan spell at Solihull for another month.