Ramsgate boss Steve Lovell feels matches against the lower sides in Isthmian South East present their own challenges.

Rams maintained top spot with goals from Ashley Miller, Kane Rowland, Jamie Coyle and TJ Jadama in a 4-1 win over Three Bridges on Saturday.

It was a free hit for the struggling visitors, and Rams had to be on their game.

Lovell said: “When you play the bottom sides, or the sides not doing too well, they’ve got nothing to lose when they come to us, so they have a go and play a much more open game.

“Sometimes it’s more difficult against the sides with nothing to lose than it is playing the top sides.

“Look at Brentford winning at Man City. No one gave them a hope, especially when Gillingham beat them in the Carabao Cup, but that’s football for you.

“Sometimes, when the pressure is off, that’s what happens.

"If you’re at the top, you’re expected to win and when it’s like that, the opposition players can relax and play how they want.

"They’re expected to lose so they treat it like their cup final and they come and have a go.

“To be fair, that’s happened with all the sides we’ve played.

“We’ve found it difficult to win at home, for those reasons, but we’ve managed to do it.

“It’s only Sheppey and Sevenoaks who’ve beaten us - we’ve won the rest - and we’re still unbeaten away.”

Ramsgate were good value for their win against Three Bridges.

They were pegged back before half-time but three goals in 12 minutes, midway through the second half, put the game to bed.

“First half, we started really well and scored a good goal but we’ve given away a silly penalty to get them back into it and it’s given them a lift," said Lovell.

“Second half, I changed the system a bit, brought the subs on and it seemed to work.

“I thought the second half was one of our better performances this season to be honest - we could have won by more.

"It was nice to get a couple of goals from set-plays, too, because that’s something we haven’t really done.

"We’ve got a tough couple of months coming up, fixture-wise, so any win’s a good win.

"The squad’s in a good place, people are coming back from injuries and hopefully we’ll be in a position to push on.”

Ramsgate host Herne Bay in the Kent Senior Cup second round tonight.

They’re back in league action this Saturday with a trip to Littlehampton (3pm).