ONE of the heroes of Cheltenham Town's last promotion success has backed the class of 2011/12 to go all the way and win the League Two title this season.

Defender Shane Duff was one of the key members of the team that earned a place in League One by virtue of a play-off final victory over Grimsby Town in 2006 under John Ward's management.

Duff has been a regular observer in the stands at the Abbey Business Stadium this season having been told his career in the full-time game is over at the age of 29 due to a persistent lower back problem.

Duff has been highly impressed with the quality of football served up by Mark Yates' team and believes they have what it takes to take Cheltenham into the third tier of English football for a third time.

"I have only watched the home games, but I enjoy it and I've been impressed with what I have seen," Duff said.

"Earlier in the season they were very good in the first half but not so good in the second.

"But more recently they have been putting in solid performances for 90 minutes.

"Every year, most people seem to forget about Cheltenham, or tip them to go down, but they are sitting top of the league."

Duff singled out the comprehensive 3-0 home victory over previous leaders Southend United in December as a measure of how far Cheltenham have progressed.

"There is nothing for them to be afraid of in League Two from what I've seen and the biggest compliment to them is that Southend turned up and didn't ever try to win the game," he said.

"They put men behind the ball and they were not used to playing like that and didn't have a clue what they were doing.

"They were clearly very worried about Cheltenham and that's credit to what Yatesey has done there this season.

"It was as comprehensive a victory as you could wish to see and almost easy."

Duff said it was difficult to compare the current side with the promotion-winning team in which he featured alongside the likes of Grant McCann, John Finnigan, Brian Wilson and Kayode Odejayi because the styles of play are so different.

"There is a lot more football being played now, which I think has filtered down through the leagues and more and more clubs have taken it on," he said.

"John Ward didn't want us to take any risks and we were solid defensively, but the side now is more attacking and the three lad in the centre of midfield are all good footballers.

"Marlon Pack gets most of the credit for being so creative and I think he's a great player, but Luke Summerfield and Russ Penn can play too and it's very good to watch."

Cheltenham's previous two promotions as a Football League club have come via the play-offs, but Duff believes Yates' men can remain top of the pile if they continue to show the same mentality as well as ability between now and the end of the campaign.

"Belief is everything and while you have to have ability, confidence is the main thing to sustaining the push," he said.

What they have done this year to get to the top has pushed the boundaries of what the club has achieved before so they shouldn't be looking behind them.

"They need to keep looking ahead, keep going and enjoy being top – the sky's the limit for them."