I just want to finish as high as we can, says Tonbridge Angels boss Tommy Warrilow

TONBRIDGE ANGELS manager Tommy Warrilow says he must stick to the club’s strict wage structure during their gruelling end to the season.

The Angels climbed out of the Skrill South relegation zone following a shock 2-1 home win over second-placed Eastleigh on Monday night.

Michael Bakare and Mark Lovell both scored in the first half, before the Spitfires roared back within four second half minutes through Stuart Fleetwood, but the Angels held on to claim the double over the full-time Hampshire outfit.

Tonbridge Angels can climb away from the relegation zone when second-from-bottom side Dorchester Town visit Longmead Stadium tomorrow.

The Magpies stunned leaders Bromley with a 3-2 victory in Dorset last Saturday and they arrive in Kent sitting on 21 points from 26 games – four points adrift of Warrilow’s men.

“This is the thing, what can you do?” said Warrilow, on his side’s struggle to beat the drop.

“When we’ve not had a game for nearly two weeks, you can’t do a lot about it.

“Other teams have been getting results, but other teams have been struggling as well.

“Whitehawk have brought a few players in and Dorchester have brought a few players in. We’re down to eleven players – that’s all we had available on Monday night.”

When asked whether he can bring in fresh blood as the club play their last 20 league games in a gruelling 64 days, Warrilow replied: “No! If I do bring in, it’ll be one in – one out again.

“It’s just what it is. We’ve done well to keep paying the lads through all the bad weather.  That’s the most important thing for me as a manager, is to look after the players I’ve got.

“We’d all like to strengthen, especially with the run of games we’ve got but we haven’t got that.

“It was shown on Monday night with the bench we had. It is what it is. We cut our cloth accordingly and we’ve got to get on with it and I just hope the fans are a bit realistic with it as well.”

The Angels narrowly escaped relegation by four points last season, finishing in sixteenth-place with 48 points from 42 games.

Warrilow said: “It’s going to be fun-packed.  I just want to finish as high as we can.  We finished ninth in our first year here and it will be nice to push on from there but listen I’m not getting too carried away because of one win.

“We’ve got a win (against Eastleigh), we’ve worked hard, those boys deserve it because we had been playing well.

“When you lose a game you just have to take the criticism but anyone who’s been to the games at Farnborough we should’ve beaten them. We should’ve beaten Weston.  I felt we were unfortunate at Dover when we lost there. 

“We’ve beaten Sutton, Eastbourne Borough and we’ve beaten Eastleigh now so that just tells you that we’re capable without really what would be half a starting eleven on Monday night.”

The Angels welcome Chris Kinnear’s Dover Athletic to Longmead Stadium next Tuesday.

The Whites are in seventh-place tonight, with 40 points from 26 games and are only two points adrift of fifth-placed Bath City.

Warrilow said: “We’ll get Dorchester out of the way first and then worry about Dover after.  I’m not even thinking of Dover. We could pick two injuries up. We’ve just got to take a game at a time.”

Visit Tonbridge Angels’ website: www.tonbridgeangelsonline.co.uk

Tonbridge Angels  v  Dorchester Town
Skrill South
Saturday 22^nd February 2014
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Longmead Stadium, Darenth Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN10 3JF