Welling v Bishop's Stortford

Welling manager Andy Ford has praised his players after they secured their Blue Square South status with two games to spare.

The Wings head into their final home game of the season on Tuesday night knowing that a run of five wins in their last seven games has secured safety.

Ford said: "The players have had to dig in and produce the goods. We haven't let many goals in and that has been the key.

"It's there for everyone to see, we've shut up shop and put five across midfield and it has worked for us.

"We couldn't go gung-ho and hindsight has proved that was the right decision."

Ford admitted that he feared the worst when the Wings lost 6-2 at home to Cambridge in his first game in charge in February.

"We were in the mess," confessed Ford. "People were always thinking that we were too good to go down but if we hadn't put that run together then we would be down by now for sure.

"The Cambridge game at home was a rude awakening - I realised what a big job it was then.

"Over the last few weeks the players have really pulled it out of the bag."

Now Ford has challenged his squad, boosted by the return from suspension of midfielder Dan Nwanze, to remain unbeaten in their last two games.

He added: "My aim is to finish the season unbeaten, anything less than that will be a disappointment."