Dartford manager Ady Pennock believes competition for places raising performance levels after seven points from possible nine in Isthmian Premier

Dartford manager Ady Pennock believes competition for places is bringing the best out of his players.

The Darts rounded off an excellent week by beating Potters Bar 4-1 last Saturday to move to the verge of the Isthmian Premier play-off places.

A seven-point haul from three games comes off the backdrop of new faces in the squad and fewer injuries and suspensions for Pennock to contend with.

“There’s been a different feel since we’ve got a couple of players in and a different mentality as well,” said the Darts boss.

“We didn’t have George Whitefield (suspension) and Sam Odaudu (injury) on Saturday but Michael Olarewaju came into the side.

“Michael’s our captain. He hasn’t been in the side in the last two games when he’s been fit because the boys have done well.

“I thought he played really well on Saturday. He had a really good game so there’s competition for places, and I think that’s what we missed.

“We had a lot of suspensions, a lot of injuries, and we didn’t have that competition. I think the competition has really helped everybody.

“We’ve got that belief back at the moment that we were missing at the start of the season.

“It just seems to be coming together in the last week but there’s a long way to go and still a lot to improve on.

“We know that. There’s still a lot of hard work to be done but it’s nice to get seven points from the last three games, that’s important and it was a big week for us.”

Pennock was delighted that hat-trick hero Eddie Dsane scored two of his goals in the six-yard box against Potters Bar.

Known for his long-range strikes last season, the Darts boss wants Dsane to get into the penalty area on more occasions.

“Eddie’s an actual goalscorer and we’ve been trying to get Eddie more in the box,”