By Michael Bristow

STRIKER Matty Bown has given Melksham Town a boost before tomorrow's Les Phillips Cup derby at Corsham by pledging his future to the Conigre club.

Bown had once again been a transfer target for Melksham's Screwfix Direct League Premier Division rivals Chippenham Town, who had put in seven-days' notice of approach.

But on Wednesday afternoon, Bown telephoned his manager Robbie Lardner to tell him he was staying at Melksham.

"I'm absolutely delighted that Matty has decided to stay, because no manager wants to lose his best players," said Lardner.

"There's not much loyalty in football these days, but Matty has shown loyalty to Melksham and that's great news for the club.

"Every player must be tempted when they hear the amounts of money being paid in wages by other clubs, but Matty enjoys his football at Melksham and we appreciate what a good player he is."

Bown, who is in his fifth season at Melksham since signing from Trowbridge Town, will now be included in the Melksham side to make the short journey to Corsham for tomorrow's first round game in the Les Phillips Cup.

As the Premier Division side, Melksham will start as favourites, but Lardner knows Corsham are capable of causing an upset.

"With the amount of rain we have had, the pitch conditions are unlikely to be good and in conditions like that anything can happen," he said.

The weather has restricted Melksham to just one game in the past five weeks, but the lay-off has helped players recover from injuries. Jeremy Christopher and Steve Seals have both recovered and are included in a a full strength squad. The game kicks-off at 1.45pm.

On Tuesday night, Melksham travel to Backwell United for a league game.