Tonbridge Angels manager Alan Dunne believes his side are earning respect from opponents as they close in on National League South safety

Manager Alan Dunne says opponents are starting to respect Tonbridge - even if their achievements haven’t had the wider credit they deserve.

Angels - the pre-season relegation favourites - are 12 points clear of the bottom four with nine games to play and looking good for National League South survival.

They completed the double over promotion-chasing Worthing last weekend - Ricky Korboa’s injury-time strike earning a 1-0 victory at Longmead.

And while they lost 2-0 at Dover on Tuesday, Dunne felt it was Angels’ best performance under him in terms of dominating possession.

Tonbridge go to Horsham on Saturday (3pm), followed by a long trip to Weston-super-Mare on Tuesday (7.45pm).

And Dunne said: “I think teams are starting to give us a bit of respect now, I really do, in terms of how they set up and how they are, because we are dangerous for anyone.

“Teams are respecting us and I think the boys are earning that respect. We’ve put ourselves in a good position but there’s still work to be done.”

While opponents acknowledge Tonbridge’s strengths, Dunne believes they deserve more credit generally.

He’s convinced the squad he inherited when he took charge in September would have been relegated.

But they’ve worked hard to turn things around and, barring a late collapse, they’ll be a Step 2 club again next season.

“I don’t think they get enough credit, the boys at Angels, because when I first came here, we were going down. Everyone said that,” said Dunne.

“I needed three or four games to have a look and, after that, I realised we were in trouble and with that squad we had, we would go down.

“We were nowhere near fit enough and the players I had, for this level, weren’t good enough.

“So it took time to bring in the players I