Hopes of a positive second half of the season are high at Fakenham Town as the Ghosts prepare to host Thetford at Clipbush Park in the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division today.

The mid-table rivals met at the start of this month, with Thetford taking the points thanks to a narrow 1-0 win at Mundford Road.

Danny White's side have only played once since that victory, winning 3-0 at Haverhill, but Fakenham got back on track with a 1-0 win at Ely last weekend.

Fakenham boss Wayne Anderson said: 'I know Danny a little bit and like me he wears his heart on his sleeve and has some good players, like the lad (Ryan) Fuller from Dereham Reserves, he's a big lad and they've got a few good lads as they seem to have a bit of a budget, which we don't.

'So we'll try to give a good account of ourselves again and try to get the points off them.'

The Ghosts go into the game in 11th place and five points behind Thetford, with Anderson setting his sights on further progress during the second half of the season.

'I'd like to finish top eight and considering we finished fourth from bottom last season, in style after going seven unbeaten, that would be great.

'I brought a few lads in from the Anglian Combination and they've bonded well with our senior lads, and we've also got five or six youngsters coming through from the under-18s,' Anderson continued.

'So we're looking good and we've got the quarter-finals of the Senior Cup in a couple of weeks, at Diss. So I'm hoping for three points and then we're at home to Felixstowe so we'll look for another good result against them before going into the quarter-final.'

Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Great Yarmouth host struggling Long Melford, looking for better than a disappointing 1-1 home draw with Clacton last weekend.

Gorleston travel to Stanway Rovers, who are just two points behind the Greens in fifth but have played five games less.

Bottom-of-the-table Swaffham host mid-table Haverhill.

In the First Division, Diss host 14th-placed Team Bury as they look to keep pace with the top three and Dereham Reserves host Needham Market Reserves.

FIXTURES

Premier Division: Fakenham Town v Thetford Town, FC Clacton v Newmarket Town, Felixstowe & Walton Utd v Mildenhall Town, Godmanchester Rovers v Hadleigh Utd, Great Yarmouth Town v Long Melford, Haverhill Rovers v Ipswich Wdrs, Saffron Walden Town v Walsham le Willows, Stanway Rovers v Gorleston, Swaffham Town v Wivenhoe Town.

First Division: Cornard Utd v Haverhill Borough, Dereham Town Res v Needham Market Res, Diss Town v Team Bury, Downham Town v Braintree Town Res, Framlingham Town v Holland FC, Halstead Town v Coggeshall Town, Kings Lynn Town Res v Debenham LC, Stowmarket Town v March Town Utd, Wisbech St Mary v Woodbridge Town.