Back-to-back wins have given Herne Bay some breathing space in their battle against relegation in Isthmian South East.

Manager James Collins is a month into the job and a thumping 4-0 win over East Grinstead followed a 5-1 midweek thrashing of Erith Town.

With those two impressive away victories, Bay are now 10 points ahead of the bottom four in the table.

Collins will hope they can replicate that away form on home turf when they entertain play-off hopefuls Burgess Hill at Winch’s Field this Saturday.

A trip to Merstham follows next Saturday and Collins is keen to measure his team up against those higher up the table.

He said: “The players have shown in the last two games that they’re more than capable of playing well and being a force in this league.

“We’ve now got to do it against teams a little bit higher up and hopefully in the next two weeks we’ll come through with flying colours and have more answers than questions.

“We’ve played two teams in and around the mid-table area and now our next two games are against Burgess Hill and Mersham. It’ll be interesting to see how close we are, or how far away we are to those two teams.

“Burgess Hill had a great result against Hythe (winning 5-0) and it’ll be a different challenge for us.

“We’ve got to see where we are but obviously we’re going to it with good confidence.

“We’ve got 11 goals in our last three and we’ve only conceded one in our last two.

“We’re going to it in good form, as they do. I’m looking forward to seeing how far away we are, or how close we are.”

Goals from Scott Heard (2), Michael Salako and Liam Friend sealed the 4-0 win over East Grinstead Town at the weekend.

There has been steady progress for Bay under the new boss as they continue to put space between themselves and the bottom four.

Collins said: “You would like to think you've given yourself a good chance but I want to keep winning games.

“I’m not sitting here thinking we're safe. We’re not safe until we are safe.

“Funny things happen in football but we’re definitely more comfortable than we were before the Erith game.

“East Grinstead and Erith are both physically strong, hard working and hard to beat. What’s pleasing is that we out-worked and beat both teams up.

“We sort of played them at their own game and won convincingly at it. That’s definitely the most pleasing thing out of the two games.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been 3-0 up in two games away from home consecutively. You’ve got to enjoy the good times because you’re only ever one week away from a bad week again.

“The players have worked really hard and I am pleased they have got their rewards for it.”

Collins will be hoping to win his first game at home after a loss to Phoenix Sports and a draw against AFC Croydon Athletic.

He said: “The two games we’ve played at home haven’t been good enough, I’d definitely like to put on a performance for the home supporters and have a feel-good factor around the ground.”