We go to Lewes without any fear, says Ashford United coach Paul Barnes

ASHFORD UNITED coach Paul Barnes says his side claimed a brilliant three points over Thamesmead Town last weekend.

The Nuts & Bolts thrashed Tommy Warrilow’s side 4-1 at Homelands to lift spirits and to move a massive nine points clear of doomed Shoreham, the side that occupy the sole relegation berth with three points on the board.

“Last week saw us pick up a brilliant three points against a Thamesmead Town side that has been doing well,” said Barnes.

“We have started to bed in our ideas and methods, with the new faces quickly taking on board roles and responsibilities and produced a fantastic team performance.”

Ashford United face a massive challenge when they travel to Bostik South leaders Lewes tomorrow.

Darren Freeman’s side have banked 45 points from their 20 league outings, three points clear of Carshalton Athletic, who have played a couple of games more.

“We will go into tomorrow without any fear, on the back of a very positive week and the lads are working hard at understanding what we want of them,” said Barnes.

“Of course, you must respect Lewes and the work Darren and his staff are doing there, they have been fantastic so far and are top of the league for that very reason. 

“From our point of view we will make sure we are organised and compact, but we will be going there believing we can take something from the trip to help carry our momentum into the Christmas period.

“Everyone knows the league doesn't lie and it shows we are where we deserve to be. Results haven't been great, and I can only speak of my own experience which has been the last four weeks.

“We should have got something from a couple of the previous games, but we finally managed to get off the mark last weekend and help get vital points on the board to try and widen our gap from Shoreham.

“We will be doing all we can to make sure we stay in this league.”

Christmas is always an important part of the football season and they host Horsham (16 December), travel to VCD Athletic (23 December), host Sittingbourne on Boxing Day and then host Shoreham on 30 December before travelling to Faversham Town on New Years Day.

Barnes said: “We are looking forward to the busy Christmas period as we feel it’s not just four opportunities to build on our points tally, but also the perfect time to get our heads down on the training pitch and settle new faces in and get everyone up to speed of expectations of individuals, units and the squad.

“We will be setting targets to hit over the upcoming weeks, both on and off the field.”

Visit Ashford United’s website:  www.ashfordunitedfc.com

Lewes  v  Ashford United
Bostik South Division
Saturday 9^th December 2017
Kick off 3:00pm
at The Dripping Pan, Mountfield Road, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 2XA