There is momentum building at Ashford United after they went top of the league this week with a third successive win.

Nine points from nine have the Nuts & Bolts top of the pile on goal-difference and playing with confidence.

There's still plenty of room for improvement but manager Gary Alexander is cautiously optimistic.

"It's early days yet," he said. "Teams are settling down. We've had some tough fixtures but there's about six teams that have won all three games.

"Winning breeds confidence and you never want to lose too many in a row.

"My group showed me they can bounce back with a few harsh words after the FA Cup defeat on Saturday and a discussion among ourselves.

"It's three games, anything can happen in this league and consistency is going to be key this season."

Ashford were knocked out of the FA Cup by lower-league Horsham YMCA but responded with a 2-0 win at home to Faversham on Monday.

Now they face another Kent derby on Saturday when Scott Porter's newly-promoted Whitstable lie in wait at the Belmont.

Alexander said: "I'm expecting another tough battle.

"We've got to do the basics right, be prepared to be horrible and mix it but at the same time be able to play our game and not concentrate on them too much.

"We have to match them. It'll be a tough game because they'll want to put balls in the box and we'll have to defend well. If we do that, hopefully our quality can come out on top."

Ashford go into the game without striker Ambrose Gnahore after he limped out of the Faversham game with a tight hamstring.

Alexander said: "Hopefully we caught it before it became a tear. It was close and had he done one more sprint, the physio seemed to think it would have been a lot longer.

"Hopefully we've caught it in time and it won't be as long."

Gnahore has two goals to his name this season while Ashford's other six goals have been scored by six different players.

"It's important to have goals all around the park," Alexander said. "It's not just about one individual scoring goals.

"If we're scoring goals, it's a collective effort from the team.

"As I said to the boys, if our top scorer ends on 10 but we're winning matches it's a collective achievement by the team.

"If someone scores 30, it's not the individual that makes the team, it's 16 players."