Jay Saunders has warned his players against complacency when Tonbridge host bottom side Havant & Waterlooville.

The teams meet at Longmead on Saturday (3pm) with Angels two points outside the National South play-offs in 10th spot after a run of one defeat in 10 games.

The Hawks, on the other hand, continue to struggle under new boss Steve King despite boasting a strong squad and are 13 points from safety.

Angels manager Saunders is reading nothing into Havant’s league position and expects them to improve.

“I can’t see them not picking up points as the season goes on,” he said.

“I don’t know what’s going on down there, or what’s gone on, but it won’t be long before they’re getting results.

“We’ve just got to make sure it’s not against us.

“You look at their squad on paper and it’s very good but for whatever reason it’s not happened for them.

“We’ve just got to try and do our own thing.

“We’ve had one defeat in 10 and we’ve got to try and carry that on.

“You get that when you play the bottom of the league and people expect you to win.

“I’ve made the boys aware there can’t be any complacency - we’ve had a chat about it.

“The biggest thing is to concentrate on us but Havant have got good players.

“We’ll be doing our homework on them and then if we sort ourselves out and prepare right, we’ll have half a chance.

“Hopefully we’ll have a couple of new players in as well by the weekend because the squad is thin at the moment.”

Man-of-the-match Ben Swift headed a second-half equaliser as Tonbridge drew 1-1 with high-flying Aveley on Tuesday night.

Angels trailed to a penalty but Swift, recently back from two red-card suspensions, secured a share of the spoils from Sean Shields’ corner.

Saunders said: “We controlled most of the first half and had lots of possession but we didn’t take our chances.

“We could have been 2-0 up and it’s a different game but we’ve gone 1-0 down to a penalty which, looking back, is so harsh.

“All in all, it was a decent performance and it’s another point on the board against a team who are having a good season. We’ve shown good character to get something out of it.

“I’m pleased for Swifty. He’s been good this season - he’s played well.

“He made a stupid decision at Weymouth which he held his hands up to and then he was hard done by for his other sending-off.

“Him and Ethan Sutcliffe have been excellent at centre-half and it was a great header for his goal.

“He’s a good lad and a good player who adds a lot to the team. He’s one of those who puts his head on the line.”

Tonbridge lost 3-1 on penalties to Isthmian South East Hythe in the FA Trophy Second Round last Saturday.

Goalless at 90 minutes, the tie went straight to a shoot-out.

“Sometimes you just have to say fair play,” said Saunders.

“They defended their box very well.

“We huffed and puffed and had a lot of possession but we didn’t have the quality to break them down.

“Maybe on our pitch it might have been different but it wasn’t and you have to give Hythe credit.

“They stayed in the game and once it goes to penalties, it’s a lottery.

“I’m not happy because I didn’t want to go out of the Trophy but unfortunately that’s what’s happened.”