Hythe Town have started what joint-manager Clive Cook believes could be a defining month in their bid to climb away from relegation trouble.

Cannons host fellow strugglers Peacehaven & Telscombe at Reachfields on Saturday, with the club offering £1 entry for all supporters.

It’s the first of seven games Town face between now and the end of October – with six of those opponents also in the bottom half of Ryman League Division 1 South.

Cook said: "They’re massive games, even this early in the season.

"We’ve got Peacehaven on Saturday, Tooting & Mitcham at home on Tuesday and East Grinstead away next Saturday, who are below us.

"They’re the ones we’ve got to win. You’ve got to beat the teams around you because that’s when you start chipping away.

"Peacehaven and Tooting are not far away and the following Tuesday we’ve got Whitstable, who are second-bottom.

"It’s all about those three, four or five games. They’re winnable games and if we can get nigh-on max points, we should start seeing some light.

"It could be a defining month because there are so many league games against teams around where we are.

"There’s not a big gap between the bottom and the top-10 places.

"Three wins in this league and you’re back up the table but three losses and you go to the bottom. That’s how close it is.

"I wouldn’t say the league’s going to be decided in October but it can build confidence."

Read the full story in the Folkestone & Hythe Express.