STEVE Tilson believes Charlton Athletic are the club most likely to damage C&K Basildon Ladies’ title hopes.

C&K Basildon have enjoyed a record-breaking campaign and only slipped from the FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division summit after Crystal Palace’s thumping win over Swindon Town on Sunday.

Tilson’s charges make the short trip across the River Thames to face the table-toppers on Sunday.

And although the former Southend United chief is aware that Crystal Palace are an impressive side, he still believes that Charlton Athletic are C&K Basildon’s biggest challenger for top spot come the end of the season.

Tilson said: “I think that Charlton are the team to beat for the title, not Crystal Palace.

“We have got seven tough games left this season and we will take every game as it comes.

“We have got to try and get a good result against Crystal Palace, but they are a good side.

“They have someone up top who has scored 30 goals this season, so the key is keeping her out.

“If we stop her then we give ourselves a really good chance of getting a positive result.

“We beat them by the odd goal at our place, but we’re aware that they are a good side.”

The Beast from the East and Storm Emma affected numerous clubs’ training schedules last week.

And, as a result of the heavy snowfall, C&K Basildon were forced to cancel both training sessions at Woodlands School and Sunday’s scheduled clash with Portsmouth.

C&K Basildon’s players were put through their paces in their first training session since the freezing weather last night.

And the training and fixture postponements did not surprise Tilson.

“It didn’t come as a surprise that our game against Portsmouth was called off at the weekend,” admitted Tilson.

“We had so much bad weather and we didn’t have a chance to train at all last week.

“Our sessions are held at Woodlands School and, because of the weather, the pitches were shut over there.

“That was a problem for us and last night was our first session back.”