by Alex Hoad

Simon Halsey will welcome a break from the pressures of Kent rivalries at the start of a month of games against opponents from further afield.

The Herne Bay boss saw the New Year’s Day game at Ramsgate called off due to a waterlogged pitch leaving the rest of their January calendar filled with games against sides from Sussex and Surrey, starting with the visit of Chipstead to Winch’s Field on Saturday.

After facing Maidstone, Faversham and Whitstable in the previous month, as well as seeing the clash with the Rams postponed, Halsey (pictured) said: "To be honest, I am looking forward to going for a while without any local games.

"It’s been a frustrating time, with games being called off and not being able to train.

"Now we just want to get all the festive games out the way, leave all the fixture problems behind us and get some games played and points on the board."

Halsey said one of the benefits of Tuesday’s postponement was it allowed strikers Byron Walker and Tunji Agbajae to recover from knocks.

He said: "It’s done us good in that we have a fully-fit squad to choose from and we’ve had a chance to train with a couple of the new lads we’ve brought in."

He added: "We are not beating ourselves up. We had a superb start to the season but December was always going to be a tough month. I’m sure things will click and we’ll get going again soon."

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