By Joe Harbert

Ashford United boss Tommy Warrilow admits his side need to be harder to beat heading into the second half of the campaign, but insists the Homelands team will maintain their attacking style of football.

United, whose game at Chichester was postponed on Tuesday due to a waterlogged pitch, were fifth in Isthmian South East ahead of the Boxing Day games and remain firmly in the hunt for promotion following their 28 points from 16 games so far.

However, Warrilow acknowledges that gaining some early year momentum could prove pivotal in a league he describes as stronger and closer than last season.

“We’re a very forward-thinking side and my philosophy is never going to change,” he said.

“But I’m hoping the boys are going to take on a little more responsibility regarding organising ourselves when we do go forward.

“We’re fed up of being caught at the back, so you have to weigh it up sometimes – if you’re not taking your chances but getting caught then you have to find that happy medium.

“Sometimes we can go a bit gung-ho, so we’re trying to rein that in a little bit by having more men behind the ball so when we do attack we still have bodies in the box, but we’re also locked up at the back, so we’ve been banging the drum on that.”

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He added: “We’re still looking to go and win games, but at the same time why should we be the ones looking to show our hand straight away?

“So we’re going to be a little more patient rather than coming away with results like we did against Whitehawk (United lost 3-2), when I would have been gutted to get a point let alone coming away with nothing.

“But there’s been lots of positives so far, and it’s just a case of getting some momentum going now. If we can stay in and around top spot then we are only going to get stronger.”

The Nuts & Bolts play their first game in nearly two weeks when they face 10th-place Whitstable on Boxing Day.

Warrilow believes his side will need to be well-equipped for the short trip to The Belmont Ground.

He added: “If the weather stays like it is it’s going to be a real battle on a heavy pitch, so we’re going to have to go there and win ugly by doing the horrible bits.

“It’s not about the pretty football, it’s about looking at the conditions and thinking to get a result here we’ve got to do this in order to win.”

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