Ben Greenhalgh is well aware of the threat their weekend hosts will cause for his Margate side.

The fourth-placed Isthmian South East outfit are due at mid-table Eastbourne Town this Saturday.

While Margate cruised past Eastbourne 4-0 in October, the East Sussex side are now on a seven-game unbeaten streak.

Player-manager Greenhalgh said: “When I was younger, I might have played there for Brighton under-23s. We’re probably talking about 13 years ago.

“But I’ve never been there before for a league game. We have played them before this season at home and it was one of our most dominant performances of the year.

“But they’re seven unbeaten now. Something I’ve noticed in this league is, sometimes, you play a team and they’re a brand-new team.

“When I look back at the 2-2 draw against Phoenix Sports, that was a strong Phoenix team - some of them started the season at Beckenham. Going seven games unbeaten in any division is a good achievement.

“Eastbourne will fancy their chances against us, but we just need to maintain our standards.”

Gate edged a five-goal game against Sheppey at Hartsdown Park as midfielders Harvey Brand and Max Walsh, alongside top scorer Ibrahim Olutade, netted last weekend.

“It was a very dominant performance again at home, which was good,” reflected Greenhalgh. “That’s all we have been looking for in the last couple of months.

“We did it against Lancing and did it again against Sheppey. The scoreline is a little bit frustrating because their first goal 100 per cent wasn’t over the line. But we managed to get over that and scored two more goals.

“Then, we conceded a second from a corner when Knighty (Lewis Knight) was off injured so we missed him in that moment. But we don’t want to pick out every little detail.

“As a club, we haven’t been winning in the last couple of years and we’re already on 63 points so we’re in a good position.”

Victory came after successive away losses, including last midweek’s 3-0 defeat at Sittingbourne, coming days after they had No.1 Tom Wray controversially dismissed at AFC Croydon Athletic.

But Greenhalgh said: “We’re not too disappointed with those defeats.

“Croydon are a decent team, it’s a difficult pitch to play on and it’s hard to play with 10 men. You really have to battle to get anything out of the game - and we nearly did!

“Then, we were without three experienced players - Tyrone Sterling, Harvey Brand and Tom Derry - against Sittingbourne. I don’t think we were miles off it against Sittingbourne, but you have to give them credit.

“They have only dropped two points at home all season in the league and they have beaten National League sides.

“We’re looking to bring some players in. We have brought back Emmanuel Oke, who was at Hemel, after he was with us at the start of the season. He’s going to be with us until the end of this season.

“Then, we’re looking at bringing two more players in.”

With Wray suspended, young keeper Reece Hobbs started against Ernie Batten’s Ites.

Greenhalgh noted: “Reece did really well.

“If I’m honest, he’s the best No.2 in the division by a country mile. We did appeal Tom’s red card and I don’t know how it didn’t get overturned because the video shows what happened.

“We all know their first goal on Saturday was not over the line - it wasn’t even close - and the second goal is in the last minutes from a corner.

“But it’s a positive that Reece has come back in and delivered a good performance. That’s credit to him.

“He hasn’t lost a league game from the start this season so that’s a pretty good statistic.”

Greenhalgh’s troops are also closing in on their original 75-point league target and remain on course with their second target for the campaign - to average more than two points per league fixture.

The 32-year-old said: “When we set that initial target, we felt 75 points would comfortably get ourselves into the play-offs.

"It was always going to be a big ask to win the league, knowing how many points Cray Valley needed last year.

“We’re still changing the mentality of the club. Points-wise, we have done brilliantly but, at the same time, it’s probably not enough.

“You have got to give credit to Sittingbourne and Ramsgate for what they’re doing, but we just need to focus on us.

“We’re one point ahead of our second target. If we stick above that, that’ll be brilliant.”

Wray will be available to return against Eastbourne this weekend.