Deal boss Derek Hares says he is happy last season’s in-fighting is in the past and revealed it tested his loyalty to the Safety Net Kent League Premier Division club.

He said: "Last year was a wasted season for me and there were many times when I could have easily just walked away.

"I wasn’t that close, actually, because I had a lot of respect for the people who were fighting the battle.

"A lot of things haven’t been said, or made public, because that was the decision we made and I think the club have come out of it stronger.

"A lot of people are doing a great job off the pitch, work is being done around the ground and hopefully that will start reflecting on the pitch."

Hares may have to re-assess his pre-season ambitions of only a top-six finish after Saturday’s 4-2 win against Sevenoaks. Holmesdale visit in a
re-arranged league game on Saturday.

He is yet to decide whether to appeal Andy Hadden’s red card against Sevenoaks. "There were one or two incidents in the game which were not nice but he had nothing to do with the first one," he said.

"Their lad jumped in on ours, who reacted but it wasn’t Andy or their boy (Lee Hales) who was involved. I don’t know how the referee came to that decision."

Mo Takaloo, who picked up a knee injury against Fisher a fortnight ago, starts a three-match ban this week.