Neil Cugley claims Folkestone are entering a crucial phase of the season as they bid to secure their Ryman League, Premier Division future.

Invicta bounced back from what Cugley called a ‘horrendous’ 1-0 home defeat to Grays on Saturday with a 3-1 success against Burgess Hill Town at the Fullicks Stadium on Monday to lie 13th, seven points ahead of the relegation zone with 21 games remaining.

Boss Cugley claimed of Saturday’s defeat: “You sit there thinking you have got the league all sorted out and then something like that happens.

“It was horrendous. It was poor and disappointing. We let our standards drop and you can’t afford to do that at this level.

“In the division below you can get away with it here and there, in this league you need to be at it in every game because every team is capable of hurting you.

“I don’t expect us to be in the top few sides but I do expect us to be winning at home to Grays.”

He added: “The pleasing thing is that we got our standards back up on Monday. We don’t tend to lose two games in a row too often and you have to credit the players for that. We deserved the win on Monday, we played well.”

Invicta head to Suffolk on Saturday to face title-chasing Needham Market (3pm) – the first of three straight away games and eight in a six-week span.

Cugley said: “They are ambitious and the manager has done a great job up there but I don’t think there are any sides in this division to fear.

“If we play like we did against Grays then we’ll get nothing but if we play like we did on Monday, I believe we’ll come away with a result.

“January and February are going to be important months for this club. We want to get ourselves in a position as soon as we can where we are able to plan ahead for next season knowing we are going to be in this division."