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Even then Celtic B and Caledonian Braves are just a couple of points off the chasing pack in ninth and tenth respectively. The lion's share of clubs have completed 15 matches to date as they approach the halfway mark in the 2022/23 campaign.

Gary Jardine's Civil Service Strollers are nicely positioned in second, three points off the summit, and level with Capital rivals Spartans, who are chasing their seventh consecutive win on Saturday when the pay Gretna 2008 a visit.

From a local perspective, Tranent are also nicely tucked behind in fourth spot in what is their maiden campaign in Scottish football's fifth tier.

And for Jardine, who steered FC Edinburgh (formerly Edinburgh City) to the SPFL in 2016, he believes the title run-in is shaping up to be the most hotly-contested since its inception in 2013.

"This is the first time in quite a while that the league has been competitive so for me there isn't a standout team," he told the Evening News. "When I was Edinburgh City manager, we only lost one game in the league that year, Spartans won it when they were miles ahead of the rest and then you've got more recently the likes of Bonnyrigg and Kelty Hearts.

"We've done really well but we're just fortunate no one is running away with it. There are more and more teams wanting to win it who are competitive so more clubs are going to drop points. For a lot of the younger guys in our squad this is the first time they've really been asked to go out and win a game. Beforehand it was more a case of trying to improve as a player. As a club, our committee work hard, the senior players work hard and I work hard to win games. So, for me seeing the younger ones improve and get better is what I want to see. We do all want to win at the end of the week. But you can't always do that, that's just the nature of sport.

"We're trying to improve season on season and I think we've done that. The Lowland League has got more exposure so for us to continue to be competitive on the resources we have, it's testament to everybody at the club who are working hard to maintain the standards that we've set."

Jardine continued: "I think realistically right now anyone between top and eighth has a real good chance of being in the mix come March, but when we hit January or February that may go down to four or five. Between now and Christmas, although there is about eight weeks left, cup games take up a huge amount of that time at this level of football which is a shambles.

"Every team has got their own identity and not's just down to formations which makes it exciting as well. It is about who can implement that plan better on the day. We've tried to adopt a certain style of play but adapt to who we are playing on a Saturday, and by bringing the players into the club that we have has allowed us to do that. Over the last four weeks we've played four different formations and also make changes in the starting line-up as we've now got that strength in depth. We need to keep moving forward with the right mentality."

Civil Service Strollers boss Gary Jardine happy to go under the radar as he predicts epic battle to finish top dog in Lowland League