By Alex Hoad

Canterbury Hockey Club skipper Michael Farrer insists his side would be happy to simply avoid relegation, despite a blistering start which has seen them win six of their first seven games in the National Premier Division.

The newly-promoted city club sit second in the table, five points clear of third-placed Cannock, over a third of the way through the campaign. However, Farrer (pictured) is keen to play down any talk of title tilts or even targeting a play-off spot.

He said: "We are pleased with the start, of course we are. If you said to anyone before the start of the season that we’d win six of our first seven games then they wouldn’t have believed it.

But in the past six or seven years, only a couple of teams have managed to stay up after going up to this division. "No matter what has happened or what happens from here, simply avoiding relegation would be a significant achievement."

Canterbury visit next-to-bottom Southgate on Sunday.