Christian Jolley believes Dartford have put themselves into position to avoid more play-off heartbreak.

The Darts lost the National League South play-off final on penalties at Weymouth in 2020 and were knocked out in the eliminator by Chippenham last season.

But they’re now five points clear at the top of the table after a stunning festive double over rivals Ebbsfleet, and although they’ve played more games than their rivals the Darts have momentum and confidence in their favour at the moment.

It means other teams will want to knock them off their perch, but assistant boss Jolley wants the carrot of taking the title to drive Dartford onto greater heights in the second half of the season.

“We’ve been chasing Ebbsfleet and Havant down all season and now we’re looked upon as the club to go and get points from,” stated Jolley.

“Every club in the league will be doing the same, you always want to shoot at the top and put in a good performance against the team that are in that position.

“We’ve got to manage that and I believe the dressing room has enough character and experience.

“The heartbreak that the club’s had in the play-offs in the past few years means there is an opportunity now to miss out the play-offs if we can manage ourselves for 20 more games.

“That’s a real carrot, but let’s go game by game and see what we can do. Nothing was won or lost on New Year’s Day, and it won’t be won or lost at Cheshunt.”

Dartford visit Cheshunt this Saturday in a battle of two of the division’s in-form sides, with the Ambers winning their last three home games.

Jolley warned that taking six points off Ebbsfleet will count for little if Dartford can’t continue their winning streak.

“It would almost dilute the points you’ve earned over Christmas,” admitted Jolley.

“They’re a good outfit, I watched Ebbsfleet play there just before Christmas, and Cheshunt are a good, intense, well-organised team.

“They’ve got a way of playing and it’s very tough to beat. Ebbsfleet found that out and we understand it - when Cheshunt came to Princes Park they gave us a real run for our money.

“It’s another test, every game is an audition to be in the right place at the end of the season.”

It appears to be a three-horse race for the title as the division edges past the halfway stage of the campaign.

And Jolley believes whichever team can solve enough problems posed by the different dynamics in National League South will come out on top.

“You have to find a way to win every game and that’s the challenge of National League South football,” he said.

“We’ll do our homework and give the players as much information as possible, without overloading them.

“It’s problem solving and that’s the thing in the last couple of weeks that I’ve been most impressed by.

“We tell them it could be this or that, but it may also be something we haven’t seen before. We’ve got a lot of creative managers in this league that mix things up very well, you can’t watch the last five games and think it’s a crystal ball so you know what’s going to happen.

“That’s what wins you National League South, being able to adapt and provide solutions week in, week out. That’s what we’ve got to continue doing, and whoever does it the most times over the next 20-25 games is going to be in the right place come the end of the season.”

Keepers Joe Young and Archie Mair have returned to Wolves and Norwich respectively after their loan spells, while Josh Johnson is back with Oxford United after his loan concluded.

The Darts are still waiting the results of Sam Odaudu’s scan after he came off with a knee injury at Ebbsfleet on Boxing Day.

Jolley added: “That was a real blemish on Boxing Day as he’s been brilliant for us. We forget sometimes that Sam is so young because he plays with such maturity.”