Saturday’s trip to newly-promoted Altrincham is the start of what could turn out to be the most important month of Dartford’s season.

Almost a third of the Varanama Conference fixtures will have been played by the end of September and four of the Darts’ seven games during that time look pivotal.

Having beaten AFC Telford on Saturday, Tony Burman’s side are away to another of the league’s newly-promoted clubs this weekend. They host Dover later in the month before crucial trips to Nuneaton and Welling.

Dartford captain Elliot Bradbrook said: "September is a big month for us as we play a number of teams that are likely to be in and around the mid-lower-table, so it is here that we need to stand up, be counted and start picking up points consistently.

"The first five games of the season are now out of the way – five tough games all against teams that are likely to finish in the top-10 this year.

"They all have aspirations of getting into the play-offs and, for the most part, we have matched them and could have picked up more points."

Altrincham have lost five of their first six games but Burman isn’t putting too much stock by that statistic.

He said: "Do you look at the league? Every game is going to be tough.

"We’ll travel up to Altrincham on Saturday morning and try to perform after a four or five-hour trip. There’s no wrong way or right way. Whether we stay overnight or not, it’s just about trying to get a result."

Lee Burns may feature after missing four games with a rib injury although Nathan Collier has deputised well at right-back.