JIMMY Lomas says he can’t predict who is favourite to win the Cheshire County League title but considers Toft to be one of the contenders.

The Knutsford outfit sit fifth in the table following a high-scoring draw with pace-setting Timperley last weekend, putting behind them the disappointment of losing heavily at Nantwich seven days earlier.

However a gap to top spot is only 36 points.

“We’re in the mix and that’s a good position to be in at this stage,” said the first-team captain.

“You don’t want to be playing catch-up, and we’re not.

“Our start has been a positive one, and it’s been a real collective effort to get this far with both bat and ball.

“The way in which the group has come together is what has given me the most encouragement – the guys have to believe that they’re good enough to challenge.”

He told the Guardian that a defeat against promoted Oulton Pak had been a blow, but wins against Cheadle, Didsbury, Bramhall and Malpas had boosted confidence.

They tied too with slow-starting Alderley Edge last month.

Lomas said: “A big difference has been that we’re bowling out teams, something that we’ve struggled to do in the past couple of years.

“Now we’re getting six or seven wickets down and going on to finish the job.

“That’s going to give us a chance to win matches.

“It’s so close if you look at the table, and it’s strange to see Alderley Edge and Chester – who we play next – in the bottom-half.

“You’d expect them to improve, and I think it’s genuinely impossible to say with confidence what things will look like in a month or so when we reach the halfway point.”

Rob Jones has discovered his best form in the past fortnight, scoring a century in games against Cheadle and Timperley.

Before that his highest score had been 43 against Oulton Park.

It hasn’t stopped Toft from collecting points, and the knowledge they can do so without the Lancashire star coming to the fore is reassuring.

Lomas said his only regret is an early exit from both the Cheshire Cup and the Joseph Holt Brewery T20.

He added: “Our hasn’t been there in the cups.

“We came up against a Macclesfield team that played really well in the Cheshire Cup, and that can happen.

“However I had hopes we could go deep into the T20 and we were perhaps guilty of taking our opponents too lightly.”

Bramhall progressed a group-stage winners after winning three matches.

Toft were third.