Worthing challenged to maintain momentum

The club made it six Bostik League Premier Division matches without defeat after coming from two goals down to grab a point at arch-rivals Bognor on Saturday.

That result ensured Worthing remained in the play-off places, although they did drop a spot to fifth in the table.

But with successive home games to come against Brightlingsea Regent and Whitehawk – teams currently in the bottom half – Hinshelwood believes his troops find themselves in a great position. However, the former Brighton defender has warned Worthing not to get carried away in pursuit of a play-off spot with nine games left this season. He said: “We’ve got back-to-back home games so it’s important to build some momentum.

“The point against Bognor could be a very good one if we back it up with three at home to Brightlingsea Regent.

“If you get points away from home and then pick up three at home, it bodes well moving forward. We’re on a good run but in this league you can’t get carried away or complacent.

“Brightlingsea will be a tough test, they’re a real tough team to play against.

“They’re well organised, got a real threat going forward, don’t need many chances to score so we can’t keep gifting teams goals in games. We’ve got to be more resolute, there’s plenty for us to work on still.

“We’ve put ourselves in a good position and the boys should be a little bit confident.”

After the visit of Brightlingsea on Saturday, Whitehawk visit Woodside Road a week later for a derby clash.

Although many will view those as winnable matches for Worthing, Hinshelwood is aware of the challenges that await. “In this league one thing you cannot afford to do is get too far ahead of yourself, it’s all ifs and buts really,” Hinshelwood said.

“We’re a young group and you don’t really know what we are going to do.

“We could turn it on and turn a team over by a hefty scoreline or we could give a couple of goals away and make it hard for ourselves, that’s just where we are.

“We won’t be under-estimating Brightlingsea and Whitehawk in our next two home games.”

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