Deal boss Steve King isn’t surprised by how they and this weekend visitors Erith Town have performed this season.

The Hoops return to Isthmian South East action at the Charles Sports Ground when they host the Dockers on Saturday after back-to-back away defeats.

Both have done well at Step 4 during their first season at the level and still have a slim chance of making the play-off spots.

While Deal won the Southern Counties East League Premier Division last term, Adam Woodward’s side - who also won the Challenge Cup and Kent Senior Trophy - gained promotion through the play-offs.

King said: "We’re both very good sides.

“I know they came up through the play-offs but, also, they won both cups last year. We won the league by nine points.

“If Faversham had come up, I think they would have done well, as well. I think SCEFL was just strong.

“I’ve not seen as much of it this year but, looking at how the teams are doing in the FA Vase, it looks to be strong again.

“We’ve both done SCEFL proud, so fair play to Erith and fair play to us.”

Erith beat King’s men 2-1 at home through a last-gasp James Dyer penalty in October despite winger Ashley Miller’s first-half goal for the Hoops.

King, who officially replaced Derek Hares in charge of Deal in July 2022, said: “They’re a side we know an awful lot about.

“We have probably played Erith Town more than we have played any other club since I’ve been in charge! We lost to a 95th-minute penalty at their place earlier in the season.

“It’ll be a good game. We’re usually better than them at home and they’re a bit better when we play each other at their place.

“They have got games in hand, as well, so they’re probably eyeing that fifth spot more than us. But we’re looking forward to it.

"In our last home game, we probably put in one of our best performances of this season to beat an in-form Sevenoaks side.

“The under-23s played Chatham on Monday night (a 2-1 loss) and they’re doing very well so there could be a chance for some of them to get first-team minutes.

“Erith have got our full respect, but we’ll be keen to deliver at home.”

King has identified an area where he would like to develop his squad following last weekend’s 3-0 derby defeat at Ashford - but doing so in the short term might prove a real test.

“We have got some injuries,” said King, who took forward Rory Smith off early at Homelands due to a muscular injury.

“We have lost Alex Green [knee] for a fair period of time and he’s a big player for us.

“On Saturday, a couple played that probably shouldn’t have done. We just looked like a fairly small squad.

“We take Alex Green out - and we haven’t had Aaron Millbank for a fair while - so we’re not quite as physically dominating as I would like us to be. But that’s down to recruitment and, with 12 games to go, that’s very difficult.

“Ashford have beaten us three times this season so it’s fair to say, in our current state, they’re a better side than us.

“They have invested a lot of money on that side so I’m not going to lose sleep over it. It’s difficult when you lose key players, but every side goes through that.

“If Rory had stayed on for 90 minutes on Saturday, I don’t think there would have been a different result.”

King had few complaints with the Hoops’ loss at Homelands as vastly-experienced defender and skipper Craig Stone struck in either half while young midfielder Harry Waldock also netted.

He reflected: “We were dominated, physically, and that had a pretty big impact on the game.

“Ashford probably played like the side I would expect them to have done all season with the players they have got.

“If you look through their side, they have got an awful lot of experience. They scored twice from set-pieces, which was disappointing because that’s usually a strength of ours.”

While Deal’s play-off hopes have slowly faded, it hasn’t come as too much of a surprise.

“I’ve been aware of that all season,” said King, who has arranged a mid-season friendly against Kennington for Tuesday.

“Obviously when you’re in and around it, I was never going to say that publicly because you never know what can happen in football with momentum.

“We’re not fully aware at this level, certainly of some of the Sussex sides, but I’d imagine our budget is one of the lowest in the league.

“That’s no problem because it was similar when we were in SCEFL.

“We’re having more than £100,000 of work done on the changing rooms and the floodlights upgraded. It shows - as we always have been - we’re still very much one club.

“But there’s areas we knew, probably from last summer, that we still need to improve the squad in, as well.”

Deal’s upgrades - due to be completed by the end of the 2024/25 season - which also include improved perimeter fencing, are possible thanks to a £109,000 grant from the Premier League Stadium Improvement Fund.

Fan Peter Jones gifted a considerable donation, which helped the club attain the 30 per cent contribution needed to apply for funding.

In the boardroom, Andrew Nixon has joined as a director.