Hawks challenged to repeat the trick at Whitehawk

The Westleigh Park outfit upped their tempo to net an important 2-1 home win against Bishop’s Stortford in midweek.

Although it wasn’t enough to lift the Hawks out of the bottom three, it gave Bradbury’s men a massive boost of confidence.

The boss insists the same is needed again if they are to improve on their awful record away from home.

So far the Hawks have won just once on their travels and that needs to improve if they are to climb out of trouble.

‘I have told the players in no uncertain terms we are in trouble,’ said Bradbury.

‘Our situation has to be reflected in the way we play and requires greater urgency.

‘We had that against Bishop’s Stortford – where you could see every pass and every tackle mattered.

‘The defeat against Gosport the week before hurt us and in response we were a lot busier all over the pitch.

‘All the players put in a shift and did their jobs from back to front.

‘That has to be the minimum we expect in every game from this point onwards.

‘We must be like this every week. It is all about heart, soul and a determination not to let other teams get the better of us.’

Whitehawk are without a win in their last six league games.

Their ground, exposed at the foot of the South Downs, can be very bleak and the Hawks will need to be mentally tough to cope with that.

It is a venue where teams must be prepared to graft and put their bodies on the line.

‘Whitehawk have a good experienced team and will be disappointed with their current league position,’ said Bradbury.

‘They will be keen to make up for losing at home to Eastbourne in midweek.

‘We will need to work hard off the ball and once we get the ball we have good enough players to hurt opponents.

‘It might not be pretty but we will go there determined to come away with something.’

Bradbury is likely to stick with his winning side, with Scott Donnelly playing higher up the pitch.

That paid dividends against Bishop’s Stortford as he scored twice.

Shamir Mullings and Theo Lewis were also outstanding with their non-stop running and battling.

However, there is doubt over the further involvement of Pompey loanee Jack Whatmough.

The defender missed the Stortford game with a hamstring injury.

Hawks: Young, Strugnell, Hill, Dutton, Medway, Stock, Donnelly, Ciardini Lewis, Swallow, Mullings, Paterson, Molyneaux, Blanchett, Hayter, Thomson