STEVE WATSON has labelled this weekend's top of the table clash between York City and King's Lynn as a "very, very important game."

National League North table toppers York return to league action after knocking ninth-tier Irlam out of the FA Cup last weekend and they'll be looking to retain their place at the top when they host third-placed King's Lynn who have just a point less than the Minstermen.

City will be full of confidence after going unbeaten in their first 11 league matches. They've not lost any of their last 14 matches in all competitions if results from last season are to be included too.

King's Lynn - who won promotion from the Southern League last term - are widely seen as York's toughest test so far and while Watson doesn't believe it will be definitive come the end of season, he didn't downplay it's current importance.

"Nothing is going to be won or lost this weekend but it's as big as a game as we've had (this season)," said Watson.

"They're a team that are in and around the top of the table, the same as us. But, we're just looking at it like it's our next game.

"We want to win every game and we want to stay on this (unbeaten) run that we're on at the minute.

"If you take into account the pre-season games, we've gone about 15 or 16 games unbeaten.

"It's a really good run whichever way you look at it. I'm not trying to underplay this weekend, it's a very, very important game considering where both teams are.

"Make no mistake about it we really want to stay where we are. This a big test at the weekend, coming up against a team that are full of confidence.

"Having got promoted last season, they've kept that momentum going which teams coming up tend to do.

"It's a really important game and it's one that we're going to do."

Saturday's game is the very first meeting between the two clubs with King's Lynn Town having never been in this tier before, since their reformation in 2010.

"From my experience both the National League North and the National League, I've learned that you don't judge a team by their name or their badge or whether you've heard much about them or not," Watson added.

"They've got really good momentum from last year and they've kept that going this season.

"There is teams that have done the opposite this season, teams that I expected to be in around ourselves.

"I expected us to be up in and around the play-offs and doing well, because I've recruited several of the lads and I know what they are capable of.

"If you'd have asked me to name the top four or five at the start of the season, I probably would have had no chance with how it now looks."

On Tuesday night, King's Lynn were in action in an FA Cup replay against Alfreton, coming out as 2-1 winners.

Watson doesn't think there's much advantage to be gain from any potential fatigue to the travelling side.

"I'm not looking for edges from that," said the manager. "I'm just focusing on ourselves. We've had a good week's training this week.

"We trained well on Monday and then we had a good in-house game against Hull at their place on Tuesday where everyone got 45 minutes in.

"It was a really good game against a good team. It was a really good work-out for the lads.

"It wasn't the normal Tuesday session - the workload was a lot higher. I thought given the fact that King's Lynn played on the Tuesday, we could afford to do a little bit more on the Tuesday ourselves.

"We've taken a lot from that and we've had the week that we wanted to have.

"You've probably seen it before where teams that are meant to be fatigued find that little bit more because they are going to a team that are top of the league.

"I'm not worried about any team getting an advantage from them playing in mid-week."