Deal Town caretaker boss Dave Johncock has been in the job for almost two months now.

In that time, he’s noticed something and he’s very open about it.

“They (his side) don’t do it easy. Easy is boring it seems,” he quipped.

But winning the hard way is really no laughing matter for Johncock.

He says he has no fingernails left after Deal beat Kent Invicta League side Sutton Athletic 7-6 on penalties in the first round of the Kent Senior Trophy last Saturday.

Now his side, who have won just twice in the Southern Counties East League and are second bottom in the table, must focus on getting it right in the league on Saturday.

And it won’t be easy. Deal face the daunting trip to third-placed Phoenix Sports, a side which won 8-1 at Crockenhill in the Kent Senior Trophy last time out.

Johncock knows his side has got to be switched on for this test.

He said: “There is no doubt that this will be the toughest game I’ve had since I took over."

Read the full story in the Mercury.