The two sides meet for the first time in more than five years at Empingham Road on Saturday in the Midlands Six East (South) showdown.

Town have always held the upper hand in the derby clashes, but College chairman Gavin Moss believes his side are closing in on their first-ever victory over their local rivals.

He said: "It should be a good game as they are playing quite well and flying high.

"We have never beaten their first team, but we've got two cracks at them this season.

"We are struggling with injuries at the moment which is a bit of a pain, but that's part and parcel of the game.

"We know we are the underdogs, but we will have our day at some point and you never know that might be on Saturday."

The two sides have suffered contrasting fortunes in the build-up to the derby duel.

College have suffered heavy 76-3 and 62-7 defeats against St Neots and Westwood respectively in their last two outings while Town are looking to bounce back at the first attempt following last season's relegation from Midlands 5 East (South).

They have only lost one of their opening three league games this season, an 18-7 reversal at St Neots, and have also claimed the scalp of Midlands 5 East (South) high-flyers Bedford Queens in the EDF Energy Junior Vase.

However, Town have been inactive in the past fortnight as scheduled opponents Aylestonians have withdrawn from the league while last week's hosts Anstey postponed the match as they were struggling to field a front row.

Town president Steve Fowkes is hoping his side can re-ignite their promotion bid by continuing their run of good results against the College.

He said: "I know the College have been struggling with injuries recently, but I'm sure they will be right up for it on Saturday and all their players will come out of the woodwork.

"It is a potential banana skin for us. There is no pressure on them because they have nothing to lose.

"There will be a lot of interest in the game and fingers-crossed we'll come out on top again, but you never know what might happen.

"We are desperate to get promotion this season, but losing to St Neots didn't help us.

"Hopefully we have put that behind us because, apart from that result, we have been going well.

"Training has been going well and things are looking favourably for us."

The derby duel marks a hectic spell of fixtures for Town who have drawn Midlands 5 East (South) strugglers Biggleswade in the EDF Energy Junior Vase.

They also face Nottinghamians in the NLD Cup and Skegness in the quarter-final of the Lincs Junior Cup in the coming weeks.

Fowkes added: "We know that we can compete with sides in the league above us and hopefully it will give us some momentum."