Manager Steve King praised the heart and spirit of his players after Dartford’s win at Hampton on Tuesday.

The Darts boss was far from impressed with some of the quality from his team, but could not fault their hunger and endeavour in the 2-1 win.

“One thing that is noticeable for me is that everybody is putting in a shift, and that is heart,” said King.

“If quality can’t win it on the day then heart will win it or go close, and we showed that in abundance.

“For me (that win was about) the spirit and the heart – the quality was lacking, second half especially, when they put us under a lot of pressure.

“I thought we were very good in the first half. I was pleased with Marsh-Brown coming in and getting the goal, especially in the first half.

“He hasn’t played for a little while at this level so it’s a bit faster and it will take time for him to adapt but I thought he had a couple of opportunities and he scored a goal.”

Report: Hampton 1 Dartford 2

Dartford striker Elliott Romain scored his second goal in as many games and led the line brilliantly.

A willing runner and a menace to defend against, Romain’s industry is exactly what King is after.

“When you say lead from the front, he just ran himself into the ground,” said King. “He got his goal again, that’s two in two and he epitomises what I want from a front man.

“We can’t have lazy people, I don’t want lazy people, I want winners and winners have got to run themselves into the ground.”

Dartford moved to within five points of the play-off places but King is keen to keep a lid on expectations, despite his excellent track record at this level.

“I’m just taking it as it comes,” he stated. “Everyone was saying before I came in that we were going to do this and that, eventually, yes, we might but not yet.

“We’re a work in progress, I’m not getting carried away with what we’ve done but it’s important that we got those two wins.

“We need to finish as high as we can in the division, if we keep winning games then we keep moving up – simple as that.

“When you come into a new club, you look at individuals and you think are they going to stand up for you or are they going to down tools because there’s a change?

“I must admit that they’ve all stood up and they want to be part of what I’m doing.”

Dartford are without a game this weekend, they did try to bring forward their trip to St Albans but the Hertfordshire outfit declined.

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