Sheppey United came back from two goals down to draw 3-3 with AFC Croydon Athletic – Manager Kevin Watson faces his old club Ashford United this Saturday

Sheppey United manager Kevin Watson believes his evolving squad are moving in the right direction - with their fighting spirit on display last weekend.

The Ites came back from 2-0 down at the break against Croydon Athletic, scoring three goals in a terrific nine-minute spell at the start of the second half to lead the game, before settling for a point after conceding a late equaliser.

Watson’s side are now seven games unbeaten in Isthmian South East after that 3-3 draw, ahead of this Saturday’s trip to the manager’s former team Ashford United.

“We take positives from the response at half-time and the characteristics we’ve shown over the last six weeks,” said Watson

“I think there were some question marks, about whether we had that steel about us, that ability to come back, that ability to retain leads, that ability to be more clinical.

“I think the playing personnel have been answering a lot of those questions now. We can do those things.

“The pleasing thing for us, as a management team, is we sense some growth in the squad. There’s not many of the players that we’ve managed before and we sense growth.

“On that growth, what you do is set the bar a little bit higher and the key to anything is consistency and they consistently perform like that.

“That’s the difference between teams at the end of the season where their league position is deemed successful and those that aren’t.

“Any of the teams in this league on their day can perform really well. But the teams like Three Bridges, Whyteleafe, Faversham, Croydon and Margate are taking the top five places because they’re quite relentless and consistent at what they do.”

Watson’s side fought back against Croydon with two goals from captain Billy Bennett either side of a Tamas