Fitness has got to be better because we're playing full-time teams, says Dartford's Paul Sawyer

DARTFORD assistant manager Paul Sawyer says he is expecting a tough fitness test when Gillingham visit Princes Park on Saturday.


The Darts have started pre-season with victories over VCD Athletic, Thamesmead Town and Erith & Belvedere, but the visit of Martin Allen’s Gills will provide a stern test.

Dartford then welcome Premier League West Ham United next Tuesday, before Leyton Orient visit on 28 July, before giants Arsenal visit on 1 August.

They complete their pre-season campaign with a trip to Blue Square Bet South side Tonbridge Angels on 4 August, before opening their Blue Square Bet Premier campaign at home to Tamworth seven days later.

Dartford came away from Kent League side Erith & Belvedere with a 2-1 win last night, courtesy of goals from Lee Burns and Ryan Hayes, who turned 27 on Sunday.

“All of a sudden the games turn a little bit,” admitted Sawyer, 46.

“Those three games (against VCD, Thamesmead and Erith & Belvedere) we’ll have a little bit more of the ball in the games.  Against the pro-clubs it may not be the case. We’ll have to be a lot more organised and the boys are going to have to work hard to get the ball back and when they get it they’ll have to work very hard to keep it

“We’ve been lucky enough to have those games since we’ve been at Princes Park, pro-clubs who are happy to come down and play us.

“They’re tough games but I think fitness wise they’ve served us well over the last few years.”

Sawyer says pre-season is all about getting players’ fit.

He said:  “We do plan it.  We plan it very carefully. We plan the opposition.  We plan when we’re going to play these games.  How many training sessions we have and it’s very important for us how many minutes the lads need to prepare them for the first game of the season.

“We keep a record of every minute a player plays and by 11 August our main first team players have played enough minutes to be, we hope, ready for the kick-off and that’s the way we’ve always treated it.   It’s served us well in the past.”

Part-time Dartford will be facing many full-time clubs in the Conference Premier this season and Sawyer wants his squad fighting fit.

“We’ve got to step it up a little this year,” he said.  “What we’ve done in the past may not be good enough. We’ve stepped up again and fitness has got to be a bit better again because we’re up against full-time professionals this year.”

Visit Dartford’s websites: www.dartfordfconline.com  & www.dartfordfootballclub.co.uk  

Dartford  v  Gillingham
Pre-Season Friendly
Saturday 21^st July 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Princes Park Stadium, Grassbanks, Darenth Road, Dartford, Kent DA1 1RT