Scott Porter has warned Lydd must keep their discipline to stand any chance of reaching the Southern Counties East play-offs.

The Lydders have had three red cards since Porter took charge in January, with ex-boss James Rogers the latest player dismissed in a 3-0 defeat by Corinthian last Wednesday.

They’ve also had several players sin-binned for dissent and Porter says it’s important to keep 11 men on the pitch.

They managed that at Sutton Athletic on Saturday where first-half goals from Robbie Dolan, Troy Howard and Sammy Adams secured a 3-0 victory.

It was the ideal response after losing their three-match winning streak in midweek, with Lydd six points off the play-offs in ninth place.

“We needed to bounce back from Wednesday night,” said Porter. “We were in the game but indiscipline cost us.

“It’s a massive thing I need to work on and we are trying.

“We keep getting into the boys it’s about the discipline and we need 11 men on the pitch all the time, simple as that.

“It’s silly things. We’ve had a few sin-bins since I’ve been here and Rodgo’s made two tackles on Wednesday and got sent off.

“The referee wasn’t great but you can’t give officials opportunities to send you off, so these are the things we’ve got to cut out, and the sin-bins.

“It is tough, I know that, but it’s one thing we need to stop and on Saturday we were absolutely fine.

“Sometimes you don’t get the right decisions from the officials but you’ve just got to get on with it.

“We need 11 men on the pitch from now until the end of the season to give ourselves a chance of getting in the play-offs.

“We’ve got 10 cup finals to play.”

Lydd are looking to sign another forward with Johan ter Horst likely to miss the rest of the season.

Ter Horst, on dual-registration from Ashford, pulled up during the win at Sutton.

Porter, whose side host Stansfeld on Saturday (3pm), said: “He’d started the game well.

“We thought he was going to get a penalty, then he’s got up and sprinted again and the hamstring’s just gone.

“To be fair, he’s a little bit down, the old boy.

“He just needs a rest now and then he can concentrate on a big pre-season.

“We’re looking to get someone in before the weekend.”