I've seen enough that we can work on, says positive Dartford boss Tony Burman

DARTFORD manager Tony Burman remains upbeat despite his side losing their opening two games in Blue Square Bet (Conference) Premier.


The 54-year-old blamed defensive errors for their 3-2 home defeat to Tamworth at the weekend and they suffered a gut-wrenching 1-0 defeat away to Woking last night.

Midfielder Lee Noble has issued an apology on his Twitter account after he picked up two yellow cards in the space of three minutes at Kingfield Stadium.
 
He picked up a yellow card for a cynical foul on Bradley Bubb in the 31^st minute but picked up his second one for clipping Woking left-back Mike Cestor.

Before that though, Dartford were the better side against a Woking side that went into the game sitting at the foot of the table after losing their first game 3-1 at Wrexham at the weekend.

Burman remains positive, despite his second successive defeat leaves the Kent club in the bottom four, the relegation zone.

“Yes, it’s two defeats but it so easily could’ve been two victories,” said Burman last night.

“That’s how football goes sometimes. We’re going to be playing in games now and we might not play so well and we might win.  If you win you don’t think anything’s wrong. We’ve lost, they’re a few things that we can improve on but I think things have gone against us.”

Dartford make the trip to Macclesfield Town on Saturday – a club that were relegated from The Football League at the end of last season.

They released every player in their squad following their drop and are now managed by former Lewes boss Steve King.

The Darts have previously played the Cheshire club four times previously and Saturday’s clash at Moss Road will be the first League fixture between the two clubs.

Dartford defeated Macclesfield 2-1 on aggregate to reach the 1974 FA Trophy Final, but the Cheshire club gained revenge for that as they progressed through to the Final in 1989  with a 4-1 aggregate win.  Ironically, both legs here in Kent finished goal-less.

Saturday’s trip to Macclesfield presents the Darts longest trip of the season to date.

Burman said: “We’re coming into this league and try and go and enjoy things and just do what we do.

“We know it’s going to be a tough game up there and they’re all tough games.

“We’ll come in training on Thursday night and we’ll be going to Macclesfield to try to get something from the game.”

Burman, who has won three promotions in the past six years to get the Kent club to this level, knows his side will not always have their own way in the top-flight of non-league football.

He said:  “In the two games we’ve had, we have done what we normally do. We’ve got punished on Saturday from our mistakes but I think on Saturday (against Tamworth) we’ve given away three points too easily.

“Listen, it’s a long way to go.  This season we’ve played two games and we’ve got 44 to go.  There’s a lot of things that happen in a season.  These first two games, result wise, haven’t gone for us but I’ve seen enough that we can work on and I’m quite happy with what we’re trying to achieve and what we’re gonna build.

“When I see my team playing like the way they did last night, with the effort they’ve given, the support that we got again was excellent.  I feel we’re moving in the right direction.”

Burman has every reason to remain upbeat – it’s not like his side have got thrashed in their opening two games.

“We’ve got to be positive.  There’s no point in being negative,” he said.

“We’re all disappointed that we’ve lost two games but having said that there’s certain ways you lose two games. Saturday we made mistakes and got punished, last night we gave a good credit to the club and everyone playing for the team done well.”

Meanwhile, Conference Premier suspensions kick-in the next game so Noble will begin his ban at Macclesfield.

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

Macclesfield Town  v  Dartford
Blue Square Bet Premier
Saturday 18^th August 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Moss Rose Ground, London Road, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK11 7SP