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Tonbridge Angels manager Steve McKimm won't rush into making changes

Manager Steve McKimm will bide his time before making changes at Tonbridge.

Angels are bottom of National League South after losing five of their seven games but McKimm feels it's too soon to judge his side.

He said: "After 20 games we’ll assess where we are and what we need to do.

Tonbridge manager Steve McKimm Picture: David Couldridge (15847644)
Tonbridge manager Steve McKimm Picture: David Couldridge (15847644)

"Make no bones about it, if we are in desperate trouble I know this club will be able to find some resources for me to be able to go and keep us afloat.

"We haven’t worked hard for five years to get to this level to go straight back down and the club haven’t either.

"They’ve been very good to me and they will I’m sure if we are in a situation where we need a bit of help, they will back me to the hilt."

Tonbridge lost 3-1 at home to title favourites Havant on Saturday and went down 4-2 at Welling on Bank Holiday Monday, dropping to the foot of the league for the first time this season.

They host fellow promoted club Weymouth this Saturday followed by a Kent derby at Dartford on Tuesday night.

McKimm said: "We need to put a couple of results together and then it puts you up a few places.

"I can’t look at us just wanting to finish out of the bottom two because that’s negative, I’ve never wanted to do that.

"I’ve seen enough from the players so far that they can achieve more than they have at the minute.

"They have to believe in it but I’ve got to get away from talking about this belief thing. They need to do it themselves.

"The players have shown in every game that they’ve been in it. You have to be switched on all the time, there are no lapses in this level.

Jonny Henly is back from injury for Tonbridge Picture: David Couldridge
Jonny Henly is back from injury for Tonbridge Picture: David Couldridge

"The higher you go, the less lapses of concentration, the better the result you get.

"You can have the most possession in the world but if you switch off once then you get punished for it.

"I am totally comfortable at this moment in time with what we’ve got to do well at this level in our first season.

"I won’t hide behind stuff like budgets, it’s 11 people against 11 people.

"If I need to change one or two I will do. After seven games I’ve seen enough from everybody that we can do all right.

"The games come thick and fast.

"Weymouth are doing very well since they’ve come up and Dartford are getting their injuries back so are going to be a force.

"But we’ve got to worry about ourselves. We can’t live on hard luck stories or decisions going against us, you are where you are for a reason.

"Whether that’s down to money, players, squad."

Goalkeeper Jonny Henly returned from injury at Welling while McKimm must check on the fitness of Alex Bentley (ankle) and Chinedu McKenzie (groin).

Angels are boosted in midfield with Rhyle Ovenden back from a three-game ban.

Read more: The latest sports news in Kent

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