SLEAFORD travel to fourth-bottom Louth in the ECB Premier League tomorrow with a heavy win needed to keep the pressure on champions-elect Bourne.

Last weekend Bourne vanquished the challenge of reigning champions Bracebridge Heath in a result that has catapulted Sleaford into second and within striking distance of the league summit.

Sleaford have quietly gone about their business with an unbeaten run which stretches back to July 3 – where they lost to Bourne – and now find their form rewarded with a shot at the biggest prize in Lincolnshire cricket.

However, Sleaford's top wicket-taker Stephen Bradford has made it clear that he and his team-mates are well aware that a win in tomorrow's encounter is vital if they are to face Bourne next weekend with any chance of glory.

"I don't think there's any pressure on us, all we have to do is focus on carrying on what we've been doing since the start of July," said Bradford.

"We know we must win well though if we are to retain any hopes of winning the league, and of course if we do so it tee's up our match with Bourne on the last day perfectly.

"We are all really looking forward to the prospect of the Bourne game, but we must not underestimate Louth tomorrow.

"We've always traditionally had very close games and the result is by no means a foregone conclusion."

The run that Sleaford have gone on is nothing short of championship-winning form, but a distinctly average start to the 2010 campaign put pay to any simple tilt at the title.

With three wins from their first eight matches many would have forgiven the team for pinning hopes on survival, but the upturn in form has left the team peaking at the top of the league according to Bradford.

"The last three to four weeks we have been keeping an eye on events at the top of the table with the form we've been in," he said.

"If we were blunt, we would say if we had played at the start of the season as we have been recently then it'd be us where Bourne are."

Bradford, who has the third best bowling average in the division at 13.56, suggests it is the balance across the team at Sleaford that has sustained this run of form.

"The benefit of our team this year has been the ability to play as a unit. Our top-five are all very settled but Dammika (De Vas Gunawardena) has been outstanding," said the former Lincolnshire man.

"And then there's our bowling which has been spread across five of us (Bradford, Jonathan Miles, pictured left, Nick Goacher, Alexander Sears, Shaun Morris) playing very well.

"Everyone plays a role in this team, and on some weeks Ollie (Burford) has had a really tough time picking a team."

A top-two finish in the division this season would represent a steady ascent up the ECB Premier, having finished fourth last season and a distant 10th in 2008.

And Bradford, now 47 and an experienced head in the Sleaford line-up, sees the team's success this season as the culmination of a building process that has lasted for several years.

"Finishing in the top two this season would represent the fruits of the club's labours from the past few years," he said.

"We had a phase around five or six years ago where we would never fail to finish inside the top-three, and since then we have had a changing of the guard and a rebuilding process."