PEGASUS Juniors boss Chris Hyde is not worried that his temporary absence from the dug-out will impede his side's push for honours in the West Midlands League Premier Division.

The 50-year-old is likely to be sidelined for a short while after entering hospital for a back operation on Monday, but insists the team will continue to thrive without him at the helm.

"There are a lot of clever footballers in the team," said Hyde. "They know what they are doing.

"John Smith, my assistant, will be in charge and so I know I'm leaving things in good hands.

"Mark Williams has said that he can step in, too, and so will Marc Jarvis."

Hyde is not expecting a long absence: "I expect to be up and about quite quickly after my operation, which is the third I've had on my back," he said.

Hyde's team are on an excellent run of form and he's still not ruling out a run for the title.

The city side started the season with a nine-game winning run and, after a five-match dip, have put together a sequence of eight victories.

"Two of the games in our dip were against Lye Town and Black Country Rangers so that was not so much of a dip from us, it was rather a case of meeting teams who were better than we were," he said.

"We still have a chance of winning the league and we won't give up. All we can ever try to do is our best for the club and then, at the end of the season we can evaluate where we are."