Dartford manager Alan Dowson conceded his team need to turn up the heat if they are to achieve the aim of reaching the play-offs.

The Darts have won just four of their first 12 games in National League South after losing a topsy-turvy affair 4-3 at Hampton last weekend.

There’s plenty of time for Dartford to turn their fortunes around and they’ll hope to get back to winning ways at home to Havant on Saturday before making the trip to Eastbourne on Tuesday.

Dowson’s men will be boosted by the likes of Paul Rooney, Max Statham, Tommy Block, Alex Wall and Luke Allen all edging closer to full fitness.

“We’ve got to pick up points,” stated the Darts boss. “That’s what these Saturday-Tuesday games are there for.

“It’s been very disappointing on the injury front, whether that’s my fault or their fault. Let’s crack on, I’m not daft and I know we need to pick up points.

“Everyone has to start coming up to the plate now. Rooney hasn’t done much for us this year, Blocky hasn’t, Max Statham is the same, Alex Wall and Luke Allen, too.

“There’s five or six players that need to step up and we’ll be much stronger when they do but they haven’t been able to yet through injuries or whatever.

“I think they’ve been unlucky but it’s got to come back to me. I thought they’d play 30 or 40 games for us this season so I totally accept the blame for this one because I signed them.

“I hope there’s light at the end of the tunnel now, I’d get rid of them if I couldn’t see it. I thought last week would be the one when everyone’s back but it got worse.

“We’ve just got to get on with it, you get these spells in the game where you feel you’ve been unlucky but what you do is you work as hard as you can.

“If we can get them performing then we haven’t got a bad side. We’re not that far away, we’ve never been beaten by more than one goal. If we can get them fit then I still think we’ll get to the play-offs, I’ve always said that.”

The weekend visit of bottom side Havant marks the return to Princes Park of former boss Steve King, who took charge at Westleigh Park last month.

King was in charge at Dartford from October 2019 until he was sacked at the end of the 2021/22 campaign following a play-off eliminator defeat on penalties to Chippenham.

In his first season at Dartford, King guided the team to sixth place when Covid saw the season halted, the club eventually losing the Play-off Final at Weymouth on penalties.

The following season, Dartford were second in the table when the campaign was declared null and void. They finished fourth in the next campaign before again losing out in the play-offs.

Former Dartford captain Tom Bonner joined Havant earlier this month but he’s not expected to play due to work commitments.

King is renowned for announcing signings ahead of kick-off but Dowson is only bothered about what happens within his club.

“This week we’ve got to concentrate on what we do,” he said. “There’s no doubt they will make changes, and hopefully there will be changes for us as well because we’ll have some players coming back. I don’t think they’ll be the only ones making changes.

“Steve King must be a popular fella because his name gets brought up all the time, and he’s got my ex-captain down there as well.

“He must have been very popular because it was a year-and-a-half ago and people are talking about him all the time.

“I’ve got to do my job here, he’s gone down there and spent a bit of cash and he’ll be determined to put one over his old club.

“It will be a tough game as player-for-player they’re not bad, but at the minute they are where they are and if we play like we did on Saturday then we should be okay.”