After a poor performance at Whitehawk last Saturday, Welling United defied the odds by defeating Bromley in the Kent Senior Cup on Tuesday.

Now, the team will be looking to build on that and claim the points needed to keep them clear of the relegation zone.

Co-caretaker manager Harry Wheeler knows that his team will need a far better performance than at Whitehawk. Poole are a team about who he knows plenty. “I’ve seen them a few times. They don’t really change their style. They  have no need to. They’ve been in the top six for the majority of the season.

Therefore a vast improvement from last weekend will be required. “Saturday was abysmal. I felt very sorry for the fans and people could understand everyone’s frustration. After Saturday, all we have to do is react. I’m not really worried about Poole. I’m worried about how we come out on Saturday.

“For the first fifteen (minutes) we had quite a few chances, we were slightly on top. In the second half we might as well not have been there. It was nowhere near good enough and the frustration of the fans was totally understandable. We just have to react on Saturday.”

Wheeler accepts that getting support from the fans is a two way street. “We need the fans to get behind us,” he said “but we have to earn the right for that. Sometimes people think that it’s a given and people are going to turn up every week and support the team.

“There’s a part of that but at the same time, you’ve got to give them something to support and Saturday was nowhere near that. We have to give them something to cheer about and we owe them on Saturday.”

Results haven’t always given a true reflection of performances, believes Wheeler. “Although we’ve only taken one point off the top six, our performances have seemed to be better where the lads seem to raise their game. That’s not necessarily a good thing because it’s points that matter at the end of the day.

“It’s the frustration that we can raise our game at times and we can be brighter at times. On our day we’re a good side, but our game needs to be much more consistent and this Saturday we need to be really on.”

When the two teams met earlier in the season in Dorset, the hosts claimed a come from behind victory.

Dean Morgan put Welling ahead from the spot after fifteen minutes following a foul on fifteen minutes following a foul on Danny Waldren.

Jamie Whisken equalised in the second half when Welling failed to clear a corner. It looked as though the spoils were going to be shared but Sam Surridge had other ideas and poked home deep into injury time.

Welling will be looking to avenge that devastating feeling but, as Wheeler said, they will need to be on top of their game.

Picture supplied by David Brown.