Dartford finally return to league action this weekend when struggling Havant & Waterlooville visit Princes Park.

It’s three weeks since Darts drew 1-1 with Maidstone in their last National League South outing and they now have games in hand over all but one of their rivals.

Havant, tipped for the title in pre-season, have struggled so far, conceding more goals than anyone else in the division and claiming just five of a possible 30 points on the road.

They could drop into the relegation zone on Saturday – or close to within a point of Dartford with a win.

Manager Tony Burman said: "I’m surprised, looking at their position but they’ve had quite a few injuries.

"It is surprising because I was expecting Havant to be up there challenging at this stage.

"When your club has a lot of supporters, there’s a different type of pressure to other clubs. But it’s one of those things and you have to get used to it.

"I understand the problems you might have which are not made public. It’s something you have to get through and you learn the more years you have in football.

"Lee Bradbury’s been in football a lot longer than me in terms of higher levels and knows exactly what he’s doing.

"When I’ve seen them, they’ve been decent in those games."

Dartford are unbeaten in their last four league games and could climb into the top half with a win.

Burman said: "It’s all right to say we can win our games in hand but we’re 14th at the moment.

"We’ve got to be consistent and hopefully we can make some sort of move up the table in December."

Read the full story in the Dartford Messenger.