Midfielder Keiran Murtagh was happy to mark his return to the Dartford starting line-up with the winner against Slough on Tuesday night.

The 34-year-old hadn’t started a league game for Darts since the goalless draw with Bath in December.

“It was a good result for us, it’s good to get back to winning ways and I was just glad that I could chip in,” said Murtagh, who headed in an early cross from Luke Coulson.

“It was a good header, to be fair. Couls is very good with his delivery and I always tell him, front to middle post, if you hit me there then I’ll score and obviously he did and I got one.

“The manager told me that I did well when I came on at Braintree on Saturday and that I was going to start.

“So, once you get the nod you just have to make sure that you stand up and be counted. Hopefully I can help the team get as many points as possible.”

Murtagh admitted that he could have added to his tally, particularly with a golden chance in the second half that he put wide of the post.

“I had another header in the first half and then the big chance in the second half so I really should have got on the scoresheet again, but 1-0 was good enough,” he added.

“To be fair I thought at first that I was offside but as it bounced I wanted to pass it across the keeper and as I did it I miskicked it and saw it go past the post. When we were holding on at the end, I was really hoping we would after that [miss].

“If we had got another goal I think their heads would have gone down. We should have really finished them off, we had quite a few chances - not only my ones - but we held out, kept a clean sheet and got the three points.”

Murtagh is hoping he can contribute further in the next few weeks.

He added: “I do pop up with a few goals but I seem to go on streaks, so hopefully I can get a couple more in the next couple of games if I’m playing.”