PAUL Smith believes his buzzing Bees are in a good position to make a move up the Midland Combination Premier table.

Studley made it eight goals in two games as they put Pilkington XXX to the sword with a 4-1 win on Saturday.

Jamie Bailey’s first half brace had put the Warwickshire outfit ahead at home at the break, before defender Richard Lambert marked his return to action with a bullet header from a Sam Wills corner.

Wills netted a fourth but was sent off for two bookable offences.

He is set to miss the clash against Pershore on Saturday, December 14.

Smith said: “It was great to have Richie Lambert back, from the first minute of the game he set the tone with his leadership.

“We scored some good goals and I was very happy with the performance.

“I thought Sam Wills’ sending off was a bit unfair, neither challenge was malicious or deserved a booking.”

Studley are seventh in the table after back-to-back wins and with Lambert and Ryan Gardner both back from injury to shore up the defence, Smith is aiming for a big push from his team.

Smith joined the club from Earlsdon in the summer aiming to see them bounce back from last season’s relegation.

He said: “We are still very much in the shake-up and the only team who are really running away with it are Brocton.

“We’ve had a few injuries but we’ve got most of them back now and hopefully we can push on.”

The Bees suffered a setback when midfielder Jack Cresswell joined Midland Alliance neighbours Alvechurch last week.

The former Walsall youth academy starlet had agreed to play for Studley until the end of December but Smith admitted Alvechurch’s offer was too good to turn down.

He said: “Jack told me what he’d been offered and I almost took him to Alvechurch myself.

“He’s got a job but it’s not well paid so you can’t begrudge a player moving on.

“I’ve no problem with Alvechurch and Jack is welcome to play for me again.”

While Cresswell has gone, James Blake is set to complete his three-match suspension this week and become available for their Midland Combination Premier clash this weekend.

Studley, who faced a tough Birmingham Challenge Cup clash at home to Black Country Rangers last night, take on Alvis Sporting on Saturday. (3pm ko).