MATT Baker has shrugged off fears about Hereford United's recent sticky patch while claiming the Bulls have the best starting eleven in the Conference.

Victory against Margate last weekend brought a run of two draws and two defeats to an end but Baker was unruffled by the dip in results.

The 23-year-old, who makes his 100th Conference appearance for the Edgar Street club at Shrewsbury Town today, is delighted with how the season is going.

"We have had a little bit of a sticky time of late but you are going to get that in a season," said Baker.

"Even Manchester United are not going to go through an entire season without a wobble and if that is the extent of our wobble I would be absolutely delighted.

"Other teams are going to slip up along the way too and it's just important we stay in there especially until March time when things really start to develop.

"Perhaps we have raised expectations too much by being top for three-and-a-half months but we are still very much in the mix."

Baker is impressed by the quality of the side assembled by Turner but admits the size of the squad makes things that bit harder for the club.

"Compared to other Conference clubs I think our first eleven is better than any other team in the league but the size of the squad is also smaller than most," said Baker.

"We therefore have to ride our luck a bit because players will get tired, pick up suspensions and it's how we cope with that which will determine how we do.

"But we are not getting carried away, we're keeping our feet on the ground.

"It's a terrible clich but we have to take one game at a time, enjoy it and see where that takes us."