Chatham are aiming to shut down the one glimmer of hope they’ve offered teams this season.

Chats - the leading scorers in English football - have earned plenty of plaudits for their attacking ways.

But their expansive approach has also left them vulnerable on the break at times, as seen in their 5-3 FA Vase win over Horley a fortnight ago.

They return to Vase action with a home tie against Hellenic League leaders Flackwell Heath in round three this Saturday, with 150 fans permitted under FA and government guidelines.

Lindsey is confident Chats will tighten up at the back as the season goes on, without sacrificing their attacking principles.

He said: “The manner in which we play, we sometimes leave ourselves open because of that.

“We’re possession-based so we use the whole pitch and stretch the play and if there’s a quick turnover, sometimes we can be open.

“It’s something we work on, to try and get back in our shape quickly and get behind the ball.

“It’s difficult with the Covid situation but moving forward, you’re probably going to see less goals going in against us once we get back on the training ground regularly.”

Chatham trained on Tuesday and have another session tonight (Thursday).

Lindsey watched Flackwell Heath’s 3-0 second-round win at Stansfeld last weekend and is predicting a tough tie for his Southern Counties East leaders.

“They’re a good side who play expansive football and they’ve got some good individual players,” said Lindsey.

“We’re going to have to be on our guard and be at our best to get through.

“Based on what I’ve seen, there’ll be nothing we change. We’ve just got to look at what they do well, combat that, nullify their threats and hopefully play well on the day.

“It’s really important we carry on doing what we do and playing in the same manner, with the same amount of possession and desire to win.

“To score five against Horley goes to show the players have kept on top of their fitness levels in the time they’ve been out.

“That was pleasing to see but we’re not going to score five every week. It won’t happen every time but we are a side with goalscorers all over the pitch.

“My centre-half has got five or six in 11 games, the players in wide areas score, the midfielders score and the strikers score.

“What we’ve got to do is nullify more of the opportunities against us.”

The winners receive £1,125, with £350 for the losing club. The fourth-round draw takes place on Monday.

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