Dartford manager Alan Dowson won't let sentiment derail his plans for victory against former club Hampton & Richmond Borough
Published: 05:00, 23 September 2022
Updated: 09:45, 23 September 2022
Alan Dowson’s sole focus this Saturday will be on getting Dartford a result as he hosts one of his old clubs.
Darts boss Dowson enjoyed four good years with Hampton, guiding the club to the Isthmian Premier title in 2016.
The following year, they made the National League South play-offs, where they lost to Ebbsfleet in the semi-finals, before he departed for Woking in May 2018.
Dowson is looking forward to seeing some familiar faces at Princes Park but his focus is on Dartford matters.
He said: “They’re my ex-club, we had four years there. We won the championship and got to the play-offs.
“They’re a lovely club, lovely people, but we need a result. The main thing for me is getting a result for Dartford.”
Darts will follow that National League South fixture with another home game on Tuesday, against Eastbourne Borough.
Dowson, whose 10th-placed team have lost three of their four home matches this term but are just one point outside the play-offs, said: “We need to get some momentum. We need to pick up some results and we need to make our home form better.
“It’s time to crack on from Saturday and get a couple of results.”
The Darts have signed ex-Chelsea and West Ham youth player Daniel Jinadu on a free transfer from Barnsley and he was on the bench for their 2-1 FA Cup loss at home to lower-league Beckenham.
On the arrival of the former Nigeria under-17 goalkeeper, Dowson said: “We are getting a scan on Dan Wilks. Once we get the result of that, we will know more.
“The young keeper, Tom Wray, has hurt his back. We just needed to bring a keeper in to help out. That’s all it was.”
Dowson would still like to add to Dartford’s ranks.
“We are still looking but we’re eight league games in," he said. "We want a couple in and a couple out maybe for confidence. The quicker we do it, the better.”
And, he, along with other members of his management team, took in various Papa John's Trophy ties on Tuesday.
He added: “We have to do our jobs better.
"If we don’t do our jobs better, it’s pointless asking the players to be better.”
More by this author
Thomas Reeves