Faversham’s players have raised their game in the nick of time – but now the challenge is to maintain those standards.

Town followed up their win at Whitstable by holding Bostik South East leaders Cray Wanderers to a 1-1 draw at Salters Lane on Saturday.

The relegation dogfight is well and truly on, with Herne Bay and Greenwich also picking up points last weekend.

Joint-manager Phil Miles praised the response of the players but warned there’s more hard work ahead if the Lilywhites want to beat the

drop.

He said: “The players have decided it’s time for them to step up.

“I hope we can continue this mini-revival and keep picking up points.

“We need to push on now and try to stay unbeaten for another two or three games.

“We’ve got some tough games coming up but also some winnable games.

“Greenwich have just appointed new managers so they might have a turn of fortune and start picking up points as well.

“From what I gather, Sittingbourne were unlucky to not get anything out of their game on Saturday so all the teams around us seem to be fighting.

“You would expect that from teams at the bottom. No one’s giving up the ghost, they’re fighting and we’re in there as well.

“We’re concentrating on teams we can catch.

“We’ve got Whitstable above us, Guernsey and East Grinstead and apart from Whitstable, we’ve still got to play those teams.”

Danny Walder’s penalty ensured Faversham became only the fifth team this season to take points off Cray.

Miles said: “We were really pleased with the performance. We carried on where we left off the week before.

“We knew they’d have a lot of possession but we stayed compact, everyone worked hard again and we deserved a point.

“We had a bit of luck at times but we’ve been missing that luck since we’ve been here. We’re really pleased with the point but other teams around us keep winning, too.

“It was the first time we were able to play the same XI in consecutive games.

“We’ve been hit with people leaving, injuries and suspensions but hopefully we’ll be able to play that same XI again on Saturday.”

That games sees Faversham at Haywards Heath before they entertain Hythe on Tuesday.