Having personally seen the club grow since 2003, it would be fitting for Punjab United FC and the Gravesend community to be at the pinnacle of Kent's senior league next season, says Jindi Banwait

PUNJAB UNITED assistant manager Jindi Banwait says his side are under pressure now that they are top of the Southern Counties East Football League First Division table.

The Gravesend based outfit have collected 58 points from their 24 league outings, a point clear of K Sports and seven clear of third-placed Fisher, following their emphatic 6-2 win at fifth-placed Kent Football United last weekend.

“It was a great performance from Punjab United against Kent Football Untied, who showed that every team is ready to fight for points in this league,” said Banwait.

“We must give them credit to the way they started on the front foot, having been 1-0 and 2-1 down.

“We lost Giannoulis Fakinos in the first half to injury but Sonny Poonia stepped in very well at right-back. We also had Joe Loft out and Arun Suman showed his ability in possession, moving the ball forward and linking well to create our goal threat.

“Our boys do, however, have the ability and courage to bring something out of nothing, with an exceptional performance from the front four with two players scoring hat-tricks (George Goodwin and Nick Donaldson) and some brave defending from Paul Lorraine and goalkeeper Lee Kidman gave us the deserved three points.

“We wish Kent Football Untied and Ennio Gonnella well, who have a good project at their club.”

Luke Coleman brings his Erith & Belvedere side to the Elite Venue tomorrow sitting in the top eight, 20 points adrift of Punjab United, but with a couple of games in hand.

“Erith & Belvedere will bring a different game altogether, we witnessed how hard they worked as a unit when we lost away in December,” said Banwait.

 “Luke has them set up well, and their recent results show this, so we are under no illusions what the game will be like for us tomorrow.

“We have applied ourselves well this second half of the season. As we enter the final third, we know we have to compete and be at our best in every minute of every match to keep our aspirations of promotion.

“Erith & Belvedere beat K Sports earlier this month too, so it proves how tough this league is, they are a good side, no team (or club) gives you the points out of reputation.

“When you're top, you're under pressure. You've got to make sure you keep getting results, the dressing room is buzzing and all the players are on board with the clubs direction.

“At this stage of the season to be in the mix is what we wanted and full credit to the squad who go out every week to perform. Now we're there we will keep our heads down and focused and will do all we can to keep that momentum going.

“There's no real changes to the playing squad, we are likely to stick with the core players we have used all season. The biggest positive is they are hungry, and want to be part of match day and that helps us in managing them.

“Behind the scenes we are always working hard and it would be good to give something back to all our supporters. Having personally seen the club grow since 2003, it would be fitting for Punjab United FC, and the Gravesend community to be at the pinnacle of Kent's senior league next season.”

Pubjab United  v  Erith & Belvedere
Southern Counties East Football League First Division
Saturday 10 February 2018
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Elite Venue, Dunkirk Close, Gravesend, Kent DA12 5ND