Folkestone boss Neil Cugley can’t see anyone denying Billericay the Bostik Premier title this season.

The well-backed Essex side are two points off the top with four games in hand.

Folkestone are one of the sides scrapping for a play-off place just below them but Cugley expects the title race to be a two-horse race at most.

He said: “If you’ve got that sort of money, you can make a couple of mistakes and put it right very quickly. I don’t think they’ll lose many games.

“I think Margate will get in there as well with Hendon and Leiston. The top five or six is how we thought, really, and we’re the surprise package at the moment.

“Everybody beats each other in this league. It wouldn’t take long for Billericay to get top and stay top and Dulwich not to be far behind.

“After that, off we go. Staines, Hendon and Margate we always thought would be up there, and I don’t think that’s changed.”

Folkestone suffered a third straight defeat on Tuesday night when they were beaten 2-1 at home by bottom side Worthing. That result followed Harrow's 3-1 win at the Fullicks Stadium on Saturday and a 2-1 loss at Wingate for Invicta, who had previously won eight straight league games.

Cugley said: “Quite rightly, expectations grow from myself and the fans on the players. That’s what they’ve brought to the table now to be fair to them so when you get a defeat, it does hurt a little bit.

“Teams come and make it difficult for you and catch you on the break. That’s something you’ve got to learn to deal with and credit to Harrow on Saturday because they did that well.

“We dominated the second half but took ages to score. If we’d scored earlier, we could have got something out of the game but they broke away right at the end and scored again.

“It’s something we’ve got to deal with. Certain clubs set up to do that and they do it well so you’ve got to get your noses in front in those sort of games.”

Folkestone travel to Harlow on Saturday with Micheal Everitt nursing a hamstring injury, before Thurrock visit the Fullicks on Tuesday night.