GEOFF Roberts believes Sedgley Tigers can mount a strong promotion challenge if they can play to their potential.

They sit in fourth place after edging to a dramatic victory over Huddersfield at Park Lane on Saturday.

While admitting his team are yet to impress this season, manager Roberts is confident they can challenge for a top two place in National League Two North if they find their rhythm.

Hull Ionians and Ampthill have opened up a 15-point gap on Tigers with the champions going up automatically and the runners-up going into a two-team promotion play-off.

“We’re only a third of the way through the season and there’s an awful lot of water to go under the bridge,” said Roberts.

“We’re still not ticking the way I would like and the way we could be doing.

“I don’t know why it is but quite a few players across the board are not quite producing what they are capable of.

“We’re still looking for some rhythm, some fluidity. We’re trying to get the team to click and I feel there is so much more capability in the side than we are showing at present.

“This time last year we were on a nine-match winning streak. We’re not the same this year and it’s so difficult to come out of it.

“It’s frustrating because we’re capable of so much better but one of these weeks it will come and all of a sudden it can change."

After going 5-0 behind early on, an unconverted Andrew Riley try and two penalty kicks from Steve Collins put Sedgley 11-5 up at half time.

Huddersfield hit back with a second try to take a 12-11 lead before the Tigers pulled away with another Collins penalty and a converted Matt Riley try.

They seemed to have the game sewn up, only for the visitors to set the pulses racing with a 79th-minute try.

While Roberts was disappointed with another unconvincing performance on Saturday, he said the excitement of the game went some way to making up for it.

He added: “You can’t fault the effort of our players but there were a couple of glaring miss-tackles that led to their tries and little things missing from our game which, if we had them, we would have won more comfortably."

Tigers travel to Caldy on Saturday looking to end their 100 per cent winning home record.