By Alex Hoad

Tony Burman wants his Dartford players to remove the shackles and play with freedom against struggling Waltham Abbey on Saturday.

Despite another rain-soaked weekend of frustration with a washout at Wealdstone, the Darts did not lose ground as other Ryman League Premier Division games went ahead.

Burman (pictured) was delighted as second-placed Hastings lost 4-2 at home to Cray Wanderers which left the Darts eight points clear but now with three games in hand.

With Dartford likely to face a backlog of fixtures at some stage, Burman wants his players to take advantage when they can turn out – starting with Saturday’s game at Princes Park.

Burman said: "I was disappointed the Wealdstone game was off as we’d rather have had a game and have the games under our belt than the games in hand.

"That said, I couldn’t have been more pleased at 4.45pm because the results went our way – nobody really closed the gap. It makes it important that we keep picking up points when we do play.

"We have been consistent this season and we need to keep it going."