Ernie Batten feels Sheppey players’ commitment to training has been key to their Southern Counties East promotion bid.

Batten's side are two points behind leaders Chatham after a 2-2 draw at Fisher on Tuesday night.

The title contenders have set high standards, the Ites having dropped only 12 points all season.

That doesn’t happen by accident and, for Sheppey, they’ve made the most of their 3G pitch at Holm Park for training.

“We’ve trained consistently twice a week and the 3G has been a revelation for us because we’re able to suit ourselves in terms of when we come in,” said boss Batten, who takes his men to Erith & Belvedere this Saturday.

“The first team have priority, obviously, and every time we want to work on something, it’s been available.

“This season, the training and preparation has been first-class and when you’re talking small margins, it gives us that little edge.

"That really has been the catalyst and the commitment from the boys has been superb.

“I believe that is key to where we are now because we’ve got a lot of boys who travel from London and that’s a 100-mile round trip three times a week if we’ve got a home game.

“They’re doing it and they deserve every success they get because it’s that commitment that’s giving us time to prepare for games."

Striker Warren Mfula scored both goals as the Ites beat Tunbridge Wells 2-0 at home last Saturday.

That followed a hat-trick against Tower Hamlets and a midweek winner in a 1-0 success at Deal.

“Warren’s on a hot streak at the moment,” said Batten.

“He’s a dangerous striker who’s got great movement, he creates chances for himself with his pace and determination to chase things, and he worries defenders.

“He’ll be the first to say he should have more goals, because of the chances he gets on the end of.

“He’s missed a few but I played up front myself and if you miss a chance, you’ve got to quickly move on to the next one and keep your chin up.

“Warren does that so well - he doesn’t let anything affect him.”

The Erith & Belvedere game is followed by a Challenge Cup quarter-final at Deal on Tuesday, where Batten is likely to field a number of young players.

He remains committed to winning the game but league commitments take priority.

Batten said: “With the amount of games we’ve played lately, we may introduced a few under-18 and under-23 players.

“Although it’s a quarter-final - and we’ll be going all-out to win whatever side we put out - if we get through it would leave us with a two-legged semi-final to fit in as well.

“The league is our priority, and we’ve got to be sensible about things, so it will probably be a mix of youth and first-team players.

“We played the 18s and 23s at Kennington in the previous round and won that 2-0, so they’re good players.”