If we can continue the form we have shown over the last five games then I’m sure we won’t be far away from a top six finish come the end of the season, says Hythe Town boss Sam Denly

HTYHE TOWN manager Sam Denly says his side will not be too far away from the play-off's come the end of the season.

Denly has been in charge for five games since taking over from Clive Cook on 22 January and during his first month in charge of the club the Cannons have beaten South Park (3-2), lost 2-1 at Carshalton Athletic and have beaten Herne Bay (2-1), Shoreham (6-0) and Hastings United (3-2).

“Our last game was an excellent hard fought win over a very strong Hastings side,” said Denly, who meets Hythe Town fans in a question and answer forum at Reachfields Stadium next Thursday 1 March at 19:30.

“We wasn’t at our best on Saturday but the boys worked extremely hard and showed they are prepared to work hard and grind out results when things are not going our way.

“We defended excellently throughout and came away with an excellent hard-fought three points.”

Reflecting on his first month, Denly, the former Herne Bay manager, said: “So far, the lads have been excellent in my five games in charge and winning four of those five games shows we are in good form, with the only defeat coming from what could arguably have been our best performance out of the five games, losing 2-1 away to Carshalton.

Hythe Town are in seventh-place in the Bostik South table with 59 points from 35 games and have 11 league games left to play to close the gap on the play-off sides.

Greenwich Borough are in sixth-place on 64 points, with a game in hand on Hythe Town.

“There is a lot of talk about play-offs and where we ant to finish but our focus is taking it game by game,” added Denly, who is a mortgage broker in his day-time job.

“Things have settled down after a crazy month but since I have been here the lads have worked extremely hard and that has ultimately seen them express themselves on the pitch resulting in good performances and a good run of form.

“We obviously want to finish the season as strongly as we can but we will be taking it game-by-game and if we can continue the form we have shown over the last five games then I’m sure we won’t be far away from a top six finish come the end of the season.

“But there is a lot of work to do between now and the end of the season, starting with another tough game at home to Horsham.

“I would also like to mention the supporters have been excellent since I joined Hythe, so hopefully we can have another good crowd of Saturday as we look to continue our good form at home and make it four wins out of four!”

Horsham arrive at Reachfields Stadium on Saturday sitting in 12^th place in the table with 48 points from 35 games.

They suffered back-to-back defeats to play-off chasers Greenwich Borough and Corinthian-Casuals (losing both games 2-0), but they bounced back with a 2-1 home win over Phoenix Sports last weekend.

The Hornets did beat leaders Lewes 2-1 on the first day of 2018, which was eight league games ago.

Visit Hythe Town’s website: www.hythetownfc.co.uk

Hythe Town  v  Horsham
Bostik South Division
Saturday 24 February 2018
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Reachfields Stadium, Off Fort Road, Hythe, Kent CT21 6JS