Jason Whitmore won’t let online criticism dent his belief that Ashford United are close to ending their long winless streak.

It’s exactly two months since the Nuts & Bolts last picked up three points in Bostik South, since when they’ve lost 10 games and drawn two.

But the manager was encouraged by their performance at Corinthian Casuals on Saturday despite his side going down 3-0.

And Whitmore is determined to prove people wrong by turning promising displays into good results.

He said: “The team is together. We all want to get out of this. We get a lot of stick, especially with me being a young manager, coming into the Bostik League.

“There’s a lot of doubters out there thinking we haven’t got the right idea or we’re not doing the right things. But the fact is we are doing the right things, we are bringing the right people in, we are making the club future-proofed for this season and next and we will go up the league.

“I listen to constructive criticism but I don’t listen to negativity, people trying to score points on social media to condemn you, who don’t even know you, what you’ve done or what you’re doing.

“I won’t listen to them. There’s no point. Everyone has an opinion and social media is great for that but if the opinions are coming from people who used to be part of the club, it doesn’t really affect me.

“A lot of the fans are starting to see what the boys are doing on the pitch and they weren’t despondent on Saturday, that’s for sure.”

Whitmore could add to his squad before Saturday’s trip to Cray Wanderers, who have conceded fewer goals (10) than anyone else in the division.

He said: “There are plenty of positives at this club, we just need to give the fans something to believe in – a team that’s going to get points and move up the league – then everything else will be forgotten.”

Right-back Fraser Walker (knee) is a doubt for Saturday.