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Sheppey United will be taking comfort from their last performance against title-chasing Cray Valley as they aim to do something no other team has managed.
A 3-1 defeat against Cray back in mid-January hid how well Sheppey played in that match. But Cray - who have won all 13 of their away league fixtures - now make the return trip to Holm Park this Saturday.
It’s an away record to be proud of and Sheppey, smarting from back-to-back home defeats, will be keen to show how good they are in front of their own fans.
Ites’ assistant boss Geoff Record said: “It is going to be a very tough game against them but we will take something out of the games where we’ve previously played against (leaders) Ramsgate and Cray.
“Although we lost to Cray a few games ago now, we gave a brilliant account of ourselves, especially in the first half. That was a much tighter game than the final score suggested.
“They haven’t carved that record out without being one of the best teams in this league, which they are.
“But I am quietly confident that we can put on a good performance against Cray and see where it takes us.”
Sheppey’s scheduled game against Burgess Hill on Tuesday night was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
Sheppey’s last two games at home have seen them lose 4-3 to Sevenoaks on Saturday and 1-0 against Merstham two weeks earlier at Holm Park.
Both matches were played in front of bigger than-normal crowds as work goes on behind the scenes to increase attendances.
Frustratingly for Sheppey, they’ve been unable to get the wins to send those fans home happy.
Record said: “The people working behind the scenes such as Matt Longhurst (the director of football) have generated a lot of interest and we’re disappointed we haven’t come up with the wins, but that’s football, it can hurt you like that, when you least expect it.
“We were quite confident of winning both games and against Merstham we lost 1-0 in a game where we had plenty of chances to win it but we couldn’t score on the day.
“But against Sevenoaks, that wasn’t acceptable from us.”
Isthmian South East table
The Ites still have games in hand over those teams above them as they chase one of the Isthmian South East play-off spots but each game without a win makes that harder.
“The pressure has been upped,” admitted Record. “We can’t afford too many slip-ups with about a dozen games left, we need to win a big percentage of that.”
Sheppey are expected to be without captain Richie Hamill after his dismissal against Sevenoaks for a second yellow card. Keeper Aiden Prall returned from injury, however, and Mams Diallo is also back in action.
Diallo made his first appearance in four months on Saturday as a substitute, recovering from a broken leg which he suffered in a game against Ashford United.
