Herne Bay joint-manager John Embery is looking forward to the derby matches his side will be playing over the Christmas period.

Bay play four Bostik South matches over 10 days starting on Saturday, including Faversham Town at home on Boxing Day and Hythe Town away on New Year’s Day.

Embery said both he and fellow joint manager, Jermaine Darlington, relish the big games.

He said: “For Jermaine and myself, the bigger the game the better and hopefully the players feel the same.

“We will take it game by game over Christmas. Of course we would love to win every match but we are realistic.

“Recent results have not gone our way. We could have been four or five goals up against Phoenix Sports and played well at Ramsgate.

“We hope we can push on from Christmas, it’s a good chance to pick up points.

“We need to make sure we put in the hard work and play the right way.”

Bay ended their five-game winless run with a victory on Saturday at fourth-placed Carshalton Athletic, thanks to goals from Jake Embery and Josh Wisson.

The manager praised his team’s hard work to get the win against tough opposition.

He said: “We deserved it and worked hard. When we got the opportunity to play, we did. It was a good game for the neutral.

“We stopped their full-backs from getting out and made sure we defended from the front well. Out of the teams we’ve played this season, Carshalton are one of the only teams who want to get the ball down and play. Those are the sort of games we want.

“Every player on the pitch and the three substitutes who came on played well.”

The win put Herne Bay 11th on 33 points, just nine off the play-off places.

They face Chipstead away on Saturday before hosting Faversham Town on Boxing Day (3pm).

Another home match on December 30, against Hastings, is followed by a trip to Hythe on New Year’s Day.

There will be some absentees for Bay on Saturday, Jake Embery is away and Connor Wilkins and Jack Steventon are both suspended.