Roland Edge believes the pressure is now well and truly off Folkestone in their push to earn a play-off position.
A 2-1 loss to Lewes last Saturday saw Invicta slip back towards the middle of the Isthmian Premier pack.
Any hopes Folkestone have of a top-five finish are slim at best, with games running out.
But joint-boss Edge said: “We have got three or four teams fighting for that fifth spot in a better position than us now.
“But for us, the pressure of chasing it has now gone. You never know.
“Until it’s numerically impossible, we will try getting it.
“When you get in a changing room, you get a feeling of how the boys are and, after Saturday’s game, we could see they were not happy.
“We will go to the very end and let’s see what happens.”
Folkestone visit strugglers Bowers & Pitsea this Saturday.
“They will be fighting for their lives because no one wants to go out of the league,” he said.
“It’s so hard to get into the league - look at Ramsgate and Chatham, battling to get into it.
“We will be going there for maximum points and we need that.”
Scott Heard had an eventful game against Lewes.
The midfielder cancelled out Deon Moore’s first-half opener - which was set up by ex-Invicta striker Joe Taylor - at Cheriton Road, only to be controversially sent off in the 84th minute for a second bookable offence.
Moore then struck again at the death to earn Lewes the points in front of a crowd of 863.
Edge reflected: “There was a lot on it, to be honest.
“It was a close game. They like to keep the ball, which we knew, and - to an extent - the boys at the back did pretty well.
"But Joe only needs a second and he crossed for the first goal.
“I think a draw would have been fair. I do feel the referee lost control a little. He will
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