Dartford goalkeeper Jacob Marsden has caught the eye in recent weeks – but he’d rather go under the radar.

The 28-year-old has made a series of fine saves since returning to the starting XI, including in last Saturday’s home win over Lewes.

He preserved a point with a fingertip injury-time stop in the 3-3 draw at Hashtag and made three key saves in the home victory against Cheshunt.

It’s underlined why manager Ady Pennock signed Marsden from Chelmsford in the summer, but the keeper won’t complain if he doesn’t have to work that hard every week.

“I’d be more than happy to keep talking behind the boys and let them do the work for me,” admitted Marsden. “That’s not always the case and they’ve done well to limit the chances I’ve had to deal with.

“But you’ve got to adapt at the time and deal with what comes towards you. Obviously, it’s great making great saves but the three points is the be-all and end-all.

“For goalkeepers and defenders, clean sheets should be a priority but getting three points is the most important thing.”

So which one of those saves does Marsden believe to be the best?

“I’d probably say maybe the one against Cheshunt in the second half on the volley because it was important for the result,” he responded.

“I know the Hashtag one was important because of how late on it was but that was bitter-sweet because I felt we were in a position where we should have been wining that game.

“I was probably just as frustrated after the save as I would have been had it gone in anyway. It was a missed opportunity where we’d come in 1-0 up at half-time and had played well.

“So, I’d probably say the Cheshunt game as we had a good result as well.”

Marsden’s impressive form since returning to the side has earned praise from Darts manager Ady Pennock.

“It’s good to hear,” admitted Marsden. “He was a big driving force of me coming here, yes it’s a good football club, but when I spoke to Ady in the summer there was no doubt of where I wanted to be.

“I really appreciate the faith that he put in me to come here and start the season. It’s important to repay that, Ady and the coaching staff have been great and I enjoy working with Les Cleevely (goalkeeper coach).

“I think it was important for me, while I enjoyed my time at Chelmsford and there’s some great people there, to come and really enjoy my football. Ultimately for every player, that comes with playing games. The last month especially I’ve been enjoying stepping out and that’s been helped with some good results.

“We’ve got a group where we can have a really good season, we’ve got brilliant fans and everything about the club is top tier. We’ve got to get those results on the pitch and keep pushing on.”

Marsden had a tough start to the season after picking up a groin injury in the final pre-season game.

But he’s confident Dartford can enjoy a successful campaign in Isthmian Premier.

“It was the last game of pre-season about 30 minutes in against Boreham Wood,” said Marsden.

“I felt a little twinge in my groin which was terrible timing for myself but these things happen in football. You have to then start preparing yourself to come back as well as you can.

“I was really enjoying it. It was a tough pre-season, I felt game-on-game and in training sessions, week-on-week, I was getting to where I wanted to be to start on August 10. That wasn’t the case and you just have to adapt to it.

“I have so much belief and faith in the group that we’ve got that we should be up there, and there’s pressure on us to do that as it’s a great football club. But we can’t be thinking about April and what may be then as we need to do it in the here and now.

“There’s a long way to go so whether we’re at the start of August, heading into Christmas or towards the end of the season, you’ve got to take it week-by-week. We can only do what we did last Saturday and then back it up with another win in the next game.”

Dartford extended their unbeaten run to six league games with a third successive draw, 3-3 at Chichester on Tuesday night, courtesy of Olly Box and an own goal. The Darts travel to struggling Hastings this Saturday.