They may be sat in 17th in the league standings, but Brady Stone thinks his Ely City side have enough quality to beat anyone in the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division.

His confident claim comes after the Robins became the first side to take a point off of runaway league leaders Mildenhall Town this season on Tuesday night (17).

Nathan Littlefair scored the first visiting goal at Hall’s Recreation Way ground since mid-November as Stone’s men held their local rivals to a 1-1 draw to extend their unbeaten run to five matches, and the Ely boss was understandably delighted at the shift his side put in.

“It was one hell of a performance,” Stone said.

“It was very different to the draw with Saffron Walden Town last Saturday, when it was very much backs to the wall.

“We went to the league leaders and had so many chances to win the game.

“We’ve brought in Sam Reed, Adie Cambridge and Nathan Littlefair in recent weeks and they’ve come with a lot of experience and we’re playing with a lot of confidence at the minute.”

City’s purple patch has seen them rise to within six points of 11th-placed Saffron Walden Town, and Stone believes his in-form Robins are capable of sinking any team in the division – as long as they play with their heads held high.

“We’ve got a great squad, a lot of players coming back in and we’re full of confidence so there’s no reason why we can’t beat anyone in this league,” he said.

“We challenged the lads to go on a run after the defeat at FC Clacton in December and they’ve answered that call.

“We just need to keep picking up the wins and the points and we’ll soon close in on the top 10, which I think is achievable.”

Ely can continue their push towards the top half on Saturday with a win over Fakenham Town – a side who are stuck in a rut having lost three of their previous four league matches.

“If we beat them then we’ll be only two points behind them,” Stone said.

“It’s a massive game for us because we want to keep this run going and keep building momentum, especially with the FA Vase game coming up.”

• Limited edition tickets for Ely’s FA Vase fifth-round tie with Sporting Khalsa on January 28 are available from Sainsbury’s on Lisle Lane.

For more information, visit www.pitchero.com/clubs/elycity or search @ElyCityFC on Twitter.