Horley Town boss Stephens praises fighting spirit

But the first team boss admits his side need to start winning.

The Clarets extended their unbeaten league form to six games as they scored a dramatic last minute equaliser at home to Farnham Town.

After the game Stephens was left with ‘mixed emotions’ with the final score.

He said: “There was a bit of relief involved in the end as it wasn’t a great performance but we managed to nick a point, so it’s mixed emotions really.

“I’m happy with the result as we scored with the last kick of the game. It looked like we were not getting anything from it and we ended up taking a point.”

Horley travel to 15th placed North Greenford United on Saturday, with Stephens left anticipating a tough game following his side’s narrow 3-2 victory in the reverse fixture back in October.

He said: “Greenford were good when they came to us. We went 3-0 up against them and they worked tirelessly to bring it back to 3-2. They would probably look at that game and feel unlucky to not get anything from it.

“We certainly came away from that thinking on the day they were one of the best sides we have played which seemed strange because at the time I think they were in the bottom three or four.”

Although Horley have not suffered a defeat since a 3-1 away loss to Sutton Common Rovers, Stephens admits he needs to start seeing more victories.

He said: “We are steady now. We are looking a bit more compact in games but for me at the moment we are drawing too many games and certainly ones we should have done better in.

“It’s good that we are not losing as that obviously builds a bit of confidence but some of those draws we should have turned into wins. And that is stopping us from closing that rather large gap at the top of the table.”

Stephens reckons fifth place is a realistic target for his side but he is not helped with absences in his side.

He said: “We are a little bit thin at the moment, we are probably working with 18 players which makes it tricky if you are dealing with players who are unavailable.

“We are looking at trying to bring another couple of players in this week as we know we have some players who become unavailable in February.”

Stephens said he has no names to report but tells to ‘watch this space.’