Pushing all the way

Member clubs are on the final approach to the end of the SCEFL season, and realistically there are three sides in with a shout for the title. Whyteleafe at present are in fine form, while Tunbridge Wells and Ashford United are also still in the hunt. The latter two are dependent on their Surrey neighbour slipping up – but as Tunbridge Wells first team manager Martin Larkin points out, his side never knows when it’s beaten – and will push all the way. “We showed en route to Wembley last year that we don’t know when we are beaten,” he told www.tunbridgewellsfc.co.uk. “We have more wins with 10 games to go than we had over the whole of last year, and we have three more points. We will register more points than last year and we are having a great season. “Whyteleafe are having an exceptional season which is the problem – but we are concentrating on one game at a time and applying pressure. That’s as much as we can do,” he added. Both Ashford and Whyteleafe have shown they are fallible in recent weeks, dropping points that give merit to the approach of winning each match as it comes. But while the twists and turns of the season are exciting to the supporters, Larkin sees it all as the piecemeal of a regular season. “It’s all pretty usual really - this league is so competitive that if you are not at the races, you will come unstuck. Ashford have a really tough run of fixtures but are capable of winning them all - we both are. We need Whyteleafe to have a wobble, but we both have to play them - so the opportunity is still there for us to do something special.” To help his side along the way to achieving, Larkin is looking to bolster his squad for the all important run-in, and although we caught him just before he was able to release specific details, he is expecting one transfer target to sign forms on Thursday, and has another two players he's in talks with about coming to Culverden. Any reinforcements would be coming in at the deep end, with Ashford United the visitors on Saturday at Culverden for a league clash of massive significance. Having put The Wells out of the League Cup earlier in the season, United will undoubtedly fancy their chances – but Larkin is keen to point out some key differences this time around. “It’s a league game so we will be showing it the respect it deserves. The League Cup was at the bottom of our priorities at the time. Ashford are a really good side, but they have a tough week leading into the game. We will be rested and almost at full strength, so the onus on us is to make sure we deliver a performance - and if we can get the crowd behind us, then we can do that, I’m sure.” Another key difference that will be noticed by fans on Saturday is that they will be entering the ground for the first time through a new block of turnstiles that complement the fencing that has gone up around the ground’s perimeter in recent weeks – a visible sign of the club putting its money where its mouth is and paving the way for promotion if the players can deliver on their end of the bargain. “That visible sign of intent puts us under the pressure we have been craving,” Larkin reveals. “Since I have been in charge we haven’t been set a target by the board. Everything we have achieved has been from within the changing room - us applying pressure to ourselves. “I always said the improvement in the team was moving faster than the improvement in the club. Well the board has caught us up, so we need to kick on again, starting Saturday,” he concludes. Interview by Matt Harris