BUOYANT Bacup Borough manager Brent Peters believes his side can look up towards the Evo-Stik League and believes there is little or no difference between that competition and the Vodkat Premier.

Borough have had a mixed start to the campaign with two wins and a draw from their six games – but they have proved how good they can be with a crushing win over Ribble Valley rivals Clitheroe in the FA Cup.

And while any hopes of an extended money spinning run along the road to Wembley were dashed on Saturday as Borough were beaten by Bamber Bridge, Peters believes the two leagues are close in quality – with the Vodkat Premier having the edge.

“I have said for many, many seasons that the Evo-Stik First Division is not as strong as the Vodkat Premier,” said Peters.

“I have said that for many years – and I back it up by saying there are teams over the years who have struggled like mad to get out of our league but then gone straight through the one above.

“You look at your Cammell Lairds, your Fleetwoods, your Vauxhall Motors.

"It took them years to get out of the Vodkat before going on to success.

“This level is every bit as tough as the one above and I really believe that.”

Peters was disappointed to see his young side bow out of the FA Cup – but admitted his men didn’t heed his warnings.

“I told my lads the importance of keeping the ball moving,” he said.

“We must not complicate the game, we must use our power and our pace, the players were warned that if we did lose the ball Bamber Bridge would go direct and we would be in trouble as they will be well organised on anything around our penalty area.

“The players were warned but failed to heed the warning and we found ourselves defending corners from us having the ball well into their half and we end up being the main instigators of our own problems which was proved and highlighted on how they got their second goal.”

But Peters says it is not all doom and gloom at West View and added: “We have a good side but they have to believe.

“When they are relaxed we go on and dominate games. We have shown that this season but only in fits and starts and it has proved that with the inconsistency.

“When they are mentally tuned in, we will take anybody. We have that in the locker.

“We are a young side and they have to learn and sometimes they have to learn the hard way.

"We want them to get into the mindset of how you kill teams off.”