Burman keeps the faith

4:49pm Wednesday 20th August 2008

TONY Burman believes his Dartford side can consider themselves unfortunate to have lost last night's Kent derby against Dover.

Both sides were making their second appearance in the Ryman Premiership after winning promotion last season, but it was the Division One South champions who emerged 2-0 winners at Princes Park against the holders of the Division One North crown.

Despite the setback and the fact Dartford have yet to collect a point from their first two games, the manager remains confident about his side's long-term prospects this season.

Burman said: "The score flattered Dover last night and we definitely deserved something from the game with the chances we had.

"I felt it was a good advert for the Ryman Premiership and we could just as easily came out of it 2-0 winners.

"We had the better chances in the first half and there are still a lot of positives for me to take from our display.

"It was certainly a lot better than we played at Hendon on Saturday and there was a lot of effort put in by the lads."

He added: "This division has been nothing different from what I expected so far.

"We always knew it would be difficult, but we are going to give it a real go and we can compete at this level."

Dartford face a busy Bank Holiday weekend with two games in the space of 48 hours, starting with a home clash against Hastings on Saturday.

Burman said: "I'm not expecting anything different from what we have encountered so far because it will be a tough game.

"Hastings are in a similar situation to us because they haven't picked up a point yet and will be trying to put this right.

"If we continue to play and create the chances we did last night, with a little bit of luck we can take them and get a positive result."

A trip to Harlow awaits on Monday and Burman will be fully briefed on the Essex side before his squad make the trip under the Dartford Tunnel.

He added: "I don't know too much about them yet, but I will be reading the reports and will be up to speed by then.

"It will be our fourth game in nine days and I always said I would use all of the squad this season to help us cope."

Dartford have no major injury worries ahead of this weekend's double header.