Signing a new striker might take a bit of time, says Dartford boss Tony Burman

DARTFORD boss Tony Burman says he hasn’t given up on catching Woking, after remaining unbeaten against fellow play-off contenders Welling United over the festive period.


The Darts are now in fourth place in the Blue Square Bet South table after coming away from Park View Road with a point, courtesy of a last-gasp Lee Noble leveller, before sealing a 1-0 win in the return leg, in front of 2,559 at Princes Park Stadium on Monday, thanks to a Danny Harris header.

Dartford are seventeen points behind runaway leaders Woking – but Burman will continue chasing the Cards until it’s mathematically impossible to catch them.

“We’ve got to try to catch Welling, Chelmsford and Woking,” said Burman.

“We never say never, just keep going and hope something happens to the others.

“As much as Woking are winning games 1-0 (Woking beat Farnborough twice with that scoreline over the festive period), that can change and it’s up to all the clubs to believe they can catch Woking.”

Burman was full of praise for the supporters, who attracted the club’s largest crowd of the season against Jamie Day’s side.

He said: “The crowd was great, they really got behind the side and I think it showed in the not over my dead body attitude we saw from the players.  It was a positive vibe and when they are like that no-one can beat us.”

Speaking about team personnel, Burman said: “Paul Goodacre has had a scan and the good news, thankfully, is that he doesn’t need an operation.  He had bruised the inside of his knee, which is going to take a bit of time, so I think he’ll be about three weeks away.

“But Connor Essam has done well.  He’s come in (on loan from Gillingham) not knowing any of the players, had one training session, but he’s come in at a good time with a lot of big games to play.

“Now I’ll be on the phone to Hessie (Gillingham boss Andy Hessenthaler) telling him how well he’s done.

“Lee Burns should be ok for Saturday. We were going to put him on the bench (for the home game against Welling) as Tony Garrod wasn’t feeling very well, but we’ve given Lee another week so he’s ready for Saturday.”

Burman revealed that his search for a new striker, to replace Charlie Sheringham who moved to AFC Bournemouth earlier in the season, continues.

He said: “We enjoy working with players who want to improve.  They’ve got the right attitude and it might take a bit of time.

“But as the right player hasn’t come up and there are plenty of good strikers in our league who we’ve made offers for, but it wasn’t to be.

“I’m not going to go out, spend our money and get someone I don’t want.  I want people who we want to work with and I’m not going to budge from that.”

Burman takes his side to fifteenth-placed Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday.

He said: “We’ve beaten Welling but the key is what we do against the teams below us.  Havant & Waterlooville are one of those teams, but in this league they are all decent sides who are capable of getting a result on any day.

“If we can show the same attitude and commitment that we’ve done (against Welling), we’ll be alright and get a result at those places.”

Visit Dartford’s websites: www.dartfordfconline.com  & www.dartfordfootballclub.co.uk

Havant & Waterlooville  v  Dartford
Blue Square Bet South
Saturday 7 January 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Westleigh Park, Martin Road, Havant, Hampshire PO9 5TH