FORMER Hereford United favourite Steve Guinan has backed his former club to challenge for Nationwide Conference honours at the end of the season.

The striker, who topped the Bulls' goalscoring charts last season as the club stormed into the play-offs, joined Coca-Cola League Two side Cheltenham Town in the summer.

But he is still in contact with a number of his former teammates and believes they have what it takes to be playing in the Football League. "A lot of the players there are good enough to make the grade," Guinan said."They've a good spine to the team. In Jonathan Gould they have an excellent keeper and players like Tony James and Tamika Mkandawire in central midfield are of certainly of Football League standard. They also have experience up front and Lee Mills will add to that."

And the 29-year-old added that changes behind the scenes could help lift the players

after the disappointment of missing out on promotion.

"They lost out in the play-offs and sometimes that can be difficult to overcome," Guinan explained. "But I think the change in management with John Trewick coming in will stand them in good stead - the players now have to impress a new coach who will be bringing in fresh ideas."

Guinan's goals prompted approaches from other clubs and a call-up for the National team. But the former Plymouth marksman admitted it was tough telling manager Graham Turner about his decision to leave.

"Through my agent I knew that there were a number of clubs interested in me so I knew that my time with Hereford was coming to an end," he said.

"I had a good chat with Graham Turner and then we had a handshake which turned into a bit of a hug. It was quite heart-wrenching really."