John Embery believes Herne Bay will be a “different animal” next season in the Bostik South.

Bay’s young side have struggled to find consistency this season but have some notable scalps, including promotion-contenders Cray Wanderers and Carshalton Athletic.

The team have been learning as they go and those improvements have already started showing on the pitch.

Joint-boss Embery said: “We knew this season was going to be a challenge as the squad is young. They have to learn how to play against all different types of teams and not make silly mistakes.

“They have learnt how to manage games as it was something they didn’t do at the start of the season.

“We need to be more consistent. They have grown up from young adults to men this season and it has been nice to see.

“We have always got an eye on the season coming. Next season they will be a different animal.”

Bay host Carshalton on Saturday who have the chance to go level on points with leaders Lewes if they win. They will no doubt want revenge after losing the reverse fixture 2-0 to Bay in December.

Embery said: “When we played Carshalton last time it was a good game and we got the result we wanted. It was one of the only times this season they have been played off the park.

“Both teams only know one way of playing football and on Saturday it will depend on who can adapt to the surface.”

The poor weather led to the calling off of another of Herne Bay’s fixtures last weekend, against East Grinstead, creating a backlog of fixtures.

In March they will play four games in seven days to try and catch up.

Embery added: “With the games in hand we could go to three points behind seventh place but it puts more pressure on you."

“It is one of those things that can’t be helped. We can rotate the squad and the young players just want to go out and play
football.

“Their attitude is ‘the more the merrier’ at that age but we know the damaging effects it can have if we don’t manage them correctly.

“The more senior players know they have not got enough recovery time.We feel they are in a good position for the run-in. If they can maintain the same levels as recent games, they will pick up points."