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Martin Tyler believes competition for places is vital as Dartford look to continue their incredible run.
The Darts extended their unbeaten streak to 11 matches in all competitions on Saturday with a 4-1 home win over Braintree in National League South.
It’s been quite the turnaround for Alan Dowson’s men, who have won all bar one of their fixtures since losing at home to lower-league Beckenham in September in the FA Cup.
With captain Tom Bonner set to be suspended after his red card against Braintree, Dartford will need to make at least one change this Saturday when they visit Farnborough.
But they had plenty of options on the bench in their last match while left-back Kristian Campbell, once again, couldn’t even force himself into the 16.
“Every game is different, every game is a challenge,” said 77-year-old Dartford coach Tyler, who watched eight-goal top scorer Samir Carruthers score twice off the bench against the Essex club, adding to Charlie Sheringham’s penalty and a fine effort from winger Luke Coulson.
“I think the fact that we have got a bit of competition for places now is really important. Not all of those who are left out are very happy, but they fight hard to get back in the team.
“Samir Carruthers was just outstanding on Saturday. He said, had he come on a couple of minutes earlier, he’d have got a hat-trick!
“They’re all very experienced players and it’s my job to make sure they run at the end because they, obviously, haven’t done that much running during the match because they are on for such a short space of time. I was trying to add up the ages of those that came on - and I think all three of them just about come to my age!
“But certainly, the players have put in a wonderful shift and I give them all the credit.”
Farnborough are struggling at the wrong end of National League South in 16th, however they have enjoyed better luck in the FA Cup and progressed to the Second Round last weekend. Two late goals saw them beat League 2 outfit Sutton United 2-0.
Tyler said: “It’ll be a different direction around the M25 for me but we know Farnborough well from our time at Woking. We played them a few times in friendlies in pre-season.
“A couple of their players actually worked for us at Woking. We’ll just make sure we enjoy Saturday’s result, set ourselves again in the week and go again.”
It’s the first of three successive away trips for the Darts. The following weekend, they are at Swindon Supermarines in the FA Trophy before a midweek clash at Oxford City on Tuesday, November 22.
But Tyler said: “Our away record is pretty good. Sometimes having three home games in a row is a pressure, people expect you to win them all and it’s never that easy.
“I can’t say it but there is an expression involving ‘one game at a time’ and that’s the way we look at it.
“But we want to enjoy this because, coming into Saturday, I think the feeling was it would be a really tough game - and it was - so don’t be fooled by the scoreline.”
Victory over Braintree had sent Dartford top last weekend but they dropped to second on Tuesday after Ebbsfleet beat Hampton & Richmond 2-1.
