Ramsgate manager Steve Lovell says his Isthmian South East leaders haven't played well this season

Manager Steve Lovell feels Ramsgate are still to fire despite sitting top at Christmas.

Rams are three points clear of Chatham in Isthmian South East after a goalless draw at home to Chichester on Saturday.

Recent victories over promotion rivals Ashford and Whitehawk showed the potential but Rams need to hit those levels consistently if they are going to see the job through.

They’re back in action at Hythe on Boxing Day (2pm).

“It’s strange,” said Lovell. “I was talking to the chairman (James Lawson) and Mark (Lovell, assistant manager) about this and we haven’t been brilliant to get to the top. We’ve not really played well at all.

“The two games before Saturday, against Ashford and Whitehawk, were the first time I’ve felt we’re starting to get some sort of pattern and a way of playing.

“It reflected in the results and the performances but then you lose three or four players for Chichester and take a step backwards.

“We’ve got to make sure on Monday we get back to the way we played against Ashford and Whitehawk.”

To be top at Christmas, without playing well, must bode well for Ramsgate.

It’s an argument Lovell has weighed up in his mind, reaching the same conclusion.

“There’s two ways of looking at it,” he said. “Because we’ve not played well, are the players good enough?

“Are they good enough to do the things we’re asking them to do and work on?

“At Gillingham I had the players in every day to work on things, so there were no excuses come Saturday.

“When you’re seeing them once a week at this level it’s hard to get them to understand what you want in a short space of time.

“But the answer to the question, ‘Are they good enough?’ is, yes, they are.

“They showed it against Ashford and Whitehawk.

“They did what we wanted