DARTFORD assistant boss Paul Sawyer says trialist goalkeeper Sam Mott will have more chances to impress at Princes Park after Andrew Young picked up an injury in last night’s 4-2 defeat against Gillingham.

The former Ebbsfleet stopper had already featured as a substitute in Saturday’s 7-2 defeat against Norwich.

However, his introduction last night came much earlier than expected when Young was forced to leave the field on 27 minutes with a leg injury and Mott could well start in Saturday’s visit to the Met Police.

Sawyer said: “Sam approached us in the summer looking for more regular first team football and we are happy to have a look at him.

“There is no commitment on either side at the moment and everyone knows where they stand.

“Andy Young got injured last night and will probably out for a week, so the next two games against the Met Police and Welling are a chance for Sam to stake his case.

“Don’t forget we have Tony Kessell here too, so there are options available to us in that position.”

Sawyer has been left in charge of first team affairs while Tony Burman is away on holiday, although he has been keeping in regular contact with the Darts chief to keep him up to speed with how the pre-season is going.

Despite losing against the Gills and Canaries, Sawyer believes Dartford gave more than a creditable account of themselves on both occasions.

He explained: “I thought we did ok last night and did well to come back from 2-0 down to go in level at the break.

“We were very good in the last 25 minutes where we got the ball down and played some good football.

“No heads went down after we fell behind but it was difficult for us to maintain the momentum in the second half because both teams made wholesale changes and it became a bit disjointed.”

Sawyer added: “It was a similar situation against Norwich where again we played particularly well in the first half and were very unfortunate to go in trailing 3-1 at half-time.

“We matched them for the opening 35 minutes but their fitness really was the deciding factor on the day because they have already been back in training for a couple of weeks.

“It was a chance to get the younger lads involved in both the games and see how they reacted to playing in front of large crowds as well.

“Aside from Sam Mott, we have no other trialists in for pre-season this year and that was a conscious decision we took earlier in the summer.

“Lads have stepped up from the under-21s and they have done well so far.”

Dartford discovered this morning they will beg their Ryman Premiership promotion challenge with a home fixture against Horsham on August 15, news which received a cautions welcome from Sawyer.

He said: “It is always really hard to know what to expect because there are so many changes which take place at different clubs during the summer.

“We did do well against them last year and it is obviously nice to have home advantage, but we will definitely have them checked out before they come here.”