Dartford can put real distance between themselves and the Vanarama Conference drop zone on Saturday when they welcome Southport to Princes Park.

The two sides immediately above the bottom four are level on 19 points, with the Darts having played a game more but boasting a better goal-difference.

They've only lost once at home since the opening day of the season - but five of those nine games have been drawn.

Dartford manager Tony Burman said: "It’s another home game and we’ve got to try to win our home games. We know that, and we’ve drawn too many, but we’ve got another tough game on Saturday and we’ve got to try to win it.

"We played one system on Saturday (at Bromley), a different system on Tuesday (against Welling) and it worked for us. If we can have that adjustment in the squad and in the team, all well and good.

"Sometimes team selection is about the formation we’re playing. People might be upset with how it is but if that’s the way we think we should do it, so be it."

He added: "People have got to understand that we’ve drawn a lot of games. It doesn’t mean, because we’ve drawn, that we’ve played badly. We feel we’ve played OK.

"The league table doesn’t lie but I think it’s fibbing at the moment in all fairness to us because we haven’t lost loads of games. We’ve just drawn too many and that’s where the problem lies. If we can change that and turn them into wins, hopefully we can move up that table.

"The group (of players) we’ve got are decent. They want to do well, it hasn’t quite come off for them, but they’ll keep working away and they’ll keep doing the right things and it’ll happen, I’m sure."

Southport have won their last two league games on the road and they drew 0-0 away to League 2 side Dagenham & Redbridge in the FA Cup on Saturday.

But the feelgood factor is returning at Dartford after back-to-back local derby wins against Bromley and Welling.

"Winning does do that," Burman said. "We haven’t changed anything, we haven’t changed what we do or what we tell them to do. It happens and no-one can put their finger on it. People does things a bit simpler. Confidence and belief is a major part of this game.

Dartford haven't lost a league game at home since September 20 - a run totally four matches.

But Burman said: "It’s undefeated but it is draws. A couple of wins and we’d have been a lot higher up in the table. It wasn’t to be but it’s not through lack of effort and it’s not because we don’t know what we’re doing. We do know what we’re doing.

"We are playing against quality and sometimes you have to accept that."

Centre-back Mat Mitchel-King and striker Tom Bradbrook return after injury on Saturday but defender Nathan Collier is still out. Meanwhile, striker Andy Pugh spent Tuesday night in hospital after being hit in the groin by the ball during the Welling game.