Manager Alan Dowson is looking ahead to some Thursday-night football as Dartford aim to seal a second-placed National League South finish.

Ebbsfleet have been crowned champions but the Darts will still hope to hold onto their runners-up position this term, which will earn them home advantage in the play-offs.

They welcome Taunton to Princes Park tonight and, after Saturday’s derby trip to Tonbridge, they are at basement boys Concord next Thursday.

Darts have two games in hand on third-placed Oxford City and one in hand on Chelmsford, who are fourth.

Dowson said: “I will look forward to that [playing on Thursdays].

“Hopefully we get a good crowd and can get three points. If we win, it becomes a five-point gap and that’s a lot for this stage of the season.

“Once we knew the championship had gone, there was a deadness.

• Dowse gets the silent treatment

"But that’s fine. Players are only human.

“But we’re two wins away from second and we’ll approach these games and try to win the games.

“We’re very confident, going into these games.

"It’s up to the players to show why we’re so confident.”

Dowson denied their remaining matches will be a chance to experiment with personnel and tactics ahead of the play-offs.

“Not at all,” he said. “We need six points to get second.

“People say you need momentum going into the play-offs - but you don’t.

“At Woking, we had won two out of 13 games and, at Kingstonian, we had lost six of eight. It doesn’t matter until you are in the play-offs.

“In the last few years, Dartford haven’t done very well [in the play-offs].

“But let’s get there first and then we will plan for them.”

They suffered their first away league loss under Dowson at Taunton in August, losing 2-1.