Following the goal-less draw between Welling United and Dartford, Welling co-caretaker manager Harry Wheeler gave his views.

“We set the bar before the game. A few lads have come in that maybe have had chances recently and not done well with them and they had another opportunity and we set the bar with them that we won’t accept anything less than that work-rate and intensity.

“I think they delivered it. Overall everyone worked really hard and we’re really proud of them but that’s a minimum but we did give a threat that if within ten minutes we don’t see someone working hard we’ll change it.”

Although, Welling had the better chances, he wasn’t too disappointed with settling for a draw. “I saw it as an even game overall. I think it was a fair result. The two keepers were fantastic. We’re happy with a point. Sometimes draws feel like losses but today’s one felt like it was a head in the right direction.

“I thought that the two centre halves were phenomenal. We talk about personal battles all the time. Taking it personally and winning your battle. In a derby, it’s much more personal than any other game. Ali came in and did well. Danny did well as normal. We have to keep that spine solid.

“They should put the emphasis on each other a little bit. Rather than just us from the side, tell each other if there not doing it keep on each other’s back and make sure that everyone’s at the same level and no-one’s switching off and no-one’s going to let each other down.”

As far as the two strikers were concerned, Wheeler said “I thought that was Slabb’s (Jamie Slabber) best game since the beginning of the season. I know Michael (Thalassitis) from last year at St. Albans. Michael works hard and he causes problems. He had his chances and he will get opportunities. I’m not bothered about his record at Hemel. I think we’ve got the right players around him to get the best out of him.”

Keeping a clean sheet is always a good basis for results and Wheeler was delighted with another against Dartford “That’s three out of four games that we’ve had clean sheets at home. If you’re keeping clean sheets at least you’re keeping the place solid. I was really pleased.”

On the subject of new players, Wheeler is happy with the current squad “ Potentially, you’re always looking to improve your squad. If the lads play at that level then why look for anything else? The lads need to give us no excuses to change things, no excuses to bring players in. If they play as they did today, we won’t be looking to bring players in.

“You don’t think for a second, that we want to make changes. We don’t want to make changes. If they are answering the questions in the first place, we don’t need to make changes. Hopefully, they’ll keep making that decision for us.”

Picture supplied by Dave Budden.