Dartford boss Tony Burman has told his players to believe they are the real deal.

A second-half comeback saw Darts beat Weston on Tuesday night to move into third in National League South.

Now Burman wants his squad to believe in their ability – and trust their manager to guide them through a promotion push in the final three months of the season.

“We’ve gone into third and we’ve still got a game in hand on a few teams, so that’s a nice feeling,” said Burman.

“We’re third because we deserve it, make no mistake about that. I am going to give them as much help as I can to see us through the next three months but they’ve got to believe in what we say and they are doing that."

While there is little doubt about the quality in Burman’s squad, it is their ability to do the ugly side of the game that the Darts boss is keen to see on a regular basis.

“Good habits that have got us into this position in the league weren’t there (in the first half against Weston),” added Burman.

“I felt that we went through the motions a little bit and you can’t do that. These games are the hardest games."

Dartford were without Andy Pugh through illness and Duane Ofori-Acheampong after a family bereavement, although the former could return ahead of Saturday’s trip to Welling and Tuesday’s match at Eastbourne.

Alex Brown’s three-match ban starts against Welling while Tom Murphy (hamstring) should be fit after coming off against Weston.