JAMIE Edge says he was always looking to cement his place in the Bulls team with or without Aaron Birch.

The central midfielder looks set to have a sustained run in the side after Birch decided to leave the club.

"Even when Aaron was here, I was always looking to cement my place," said Birch.

"It's a shame that Aaron's gone, it's disappointing for me because he's a good friend and a good player and I like playing with him.

"But good luck to him."

Hereford have won all seven of their league games so far and head to Sutton Coldfield in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup.

Sutton play in the Southern League Premier Division - one league above Hereford - but are struggling near the foot of it.

"Every game is tough, even in our league, but we back ourselves playing against the league above and even the league above that," added Edge.

"I think we showed that in preseason when we put in some good performances against some good Conference North sides."

Hereford's latest victory was a 2-0 success at Winchester City thanks to a John Mills strike and an own goal from Jamie Ford.

"It was comfortable as it could be," said Edge.

"They worked hard and had a few spells in the game where they put a few balls in our box.

"But they didn't really worry us that much and it was a solid performance.

"We got our goals early in the first half and, from there, we were really solid.

"We've got strength in depth and got a few lads who came in and did really well replacing the likes of Pablo [Haysham] and Jamie Willets.

"We've got a strong squad and everyone can step in and do a good job."