FORMER Melksham Town goalkeeper Steve Perrin will be aiming for national honours when he lines up in an FA XI against a Ryman League representative side at Bishop's Stortford on Wednesday night.

Perrin, who now plays for Forest Green Rovers in the Conference, hopes to impress the England semi-professional squad manager John Owens.

Owens will field three different line-ups in matches against representative sides from the Ryman, Dr Martens and Unibond Leagues next week and will use the matches as final trial games before selecting his squad.

But Perrin man will face stiff competition from Paul Wilkerson, Phil Smith, Andy Woods, Stuart Dickinson and current England number one Steve Farrelly.

Perrin is looking to make the next step to the national side.He said: "It was a pleasurable surprise for me to be selected for the FA squad and hopefully I'll get in," he said.

"But the other keepers also have games that week and are Conference keepers as well, so there is some competition."

The 30-year-old shot-stopper has been in fine form this term and Forest Green are eighth in the Conference after narrowly escaping the drop back to the Dr Martens League last season.

He said: "I'm really pleased with how it is going. If anyone had said we'd be in our current position before the season then I'm sure we'd have taken it."

Oxford United are the latest league club to be linked with a move for Perrin, but the Melksham-based goalkeeper has put speculation firmly to the back of his mind.

Said Perrin: "To be fair, I haven't heard anything about it personally, but there has been a lot of speculation this year. I know there has been some interest from a few clubs, but the club haven't said anything to me. Until anything happens, I'm not really bothered about it at all."