Tony Burman admits he can learn from his mistakes when Dartford host Chelmsford on Saturday.

The manager conceded he got his team selection wrong at St Albans last weekend as Darts crashed to their heaviest defeat of the season.

Burman fielded the same side which had beaten Whitehawk seven days earlier but
Dartford went down 4-0 in Hertfordshire.

They’re still three points clear at the top of National League South but all the teams chasing them have games in hand.

He said: “St Albans play a certain way and it’s different to Whitehawk. The same XI did well against Whitehawk but I’ve got to take it further than that.

“It’s a different game, a different day and possibly, in hindsight, I should have selected some different players.

“That’s no disrespect to anybody, it’s just that you have to do that. I may have got it slightly wrong.

“I’ve got some decisions to make now because of who we’re playing and the way the opposition play.

“We’ve got to think of what they do, their strengths and if it means me making some changes, I will do that.

“Just because we might have won a game the week before, it’s nice to keep the same side but teams now are playing in different formations and I’ve got to make sure I get my selection right.

“Players all understand I can’t fit 18 into 11 and as long as it’s done in the right way, they will accept it. Who knows? They might not be selected one week and the next week, they’ll play.”

Chelmsford have had the edge in recent meetings, knocking Dartford out of the play-offs last season and winning the reverse fixture 1-0 in October.

Burman said: “They’re always good games and it’s usually a good atmosphere. (Manager) Rod Stringer gets everybody going inside the ground with his team and his supporters and we do the same. It’s always something to look forward to.

“We had a kick up the backside last week and it’s up to us now to respond. No one else is going to help us, no one else is going to concern themselves about us.

“We need to get on with it and perform a lot better.

“Chelmsford are always going to be a strong side. The (play-off) games could have gone either way and when we played them at their place, it was game completely spoiled by the
wind.

“They took the points, so we’ve got to get those three points back.”

Dartford will assess Danny Harris’ fitness tonight (Thursday) but defender Richard Sho-Silva has knee ligament damage and won’t be back for at least a fortnight.