Ashford United manager Tommy Warrilow says his side were back on it at VCD

Tommy Warrilow hopes Ashford’s second-half performance at VCD is the catalyst they need to finish the season strongly.

The Nuts & Bolts earned a first win in four matches with Saturday’s 3-1 success on the road.

Luke Burdon - a first-half substitute for the injured Tariq Ossai - scored twice and Gary Lockyer clinched victory at the death to keep Ashford second in Isthmian South East.

Victory at Lancing this Saturday should all-but-secure a play-off place for the Nuts & Bolts, who came good at VCD having seen Burdon’s opener cancelled out before half-time.

“The play-offs are normally done and dusted with three or four games to go but it’s still so tight,” said boss Warrilow.

“We’ve got a little bit of a gap and the games are running out but we’ve got to carry on and finish as strong as we can.

“VCD are a decent side, they popped it about in the first half and we were chasing them a little bit.

“We came in at half-time, changed the shape and we were very good in the second half, with and without the ball.

“We played a different shape and everyone seemed to find their jobs easier. It’s one of those games you’re dreading because it’s a difficult place to go and we’re delighted to get the points.

“We’re not stupid, we know we’ve not been playing well lately, even though we’ve only lost one in 11.

“The performances haven’t been good enough for the standards we set but we were back on it in the second half and hopefully that breeds confidence and the players will relax a bit more.

“The last four or five games, the team’s not been doing what they should be doing.

“We’ve been playing as individuals and not as a team.

“That’s an easy thing to sort out when all’s going well but we’ve had to find out what the problem is and