Alton battled to a 2-1 victory over Banstead last week without being at their best – and manager Kevin Adair believes that underlines how far his side have come this season.

Earlier this season, if the Brewers were not firing on all cylinders they were dropping points.

“It was a good win although it wasn’t necessarily a good performance,” said Adair.

“But we had played well in the previous two games, so to be able to win without playing well is something we have been working hard to do.

“We have moved away from the bottom three or four in the table, although I have always said I never saw us as a bottom-three side, we just needed some time to find our feet.

“We set ourselves little targets and have one to hit for the end of the year, and we are working nicely towards that.

“Saturday’s trip to Redhill will be a tough one, though. We played them early in the season when we were new to the league and raw and lost 3-1, so we should be better equipped this time.

“But we are carrying a few knocks – we had four injuries just from Saturday, on top of the injury list we already had.

“But the squad is healthy enough to be competitive – and some of the younger lads from the development squad are ready to step up.

“Archie Larkham is 16 and has played in two of the past three games and done really well.

“There are six or seven lads in the development side who are doing all they need to do in matches and when they train with us to show that when their opportunity comes, they’re ready.

“And they will be given it, as we have proved with Archie. They’ve earned their chance.”