Tommy Widdrington believes his new look Eastbourne Borough side are capable of lasting the distance this season.

Borough have made an encouraging start to the Conference south campaign after taking four points from their opening two games.

Fans will be understandably wary of getting too carried away having seen Borough come out of the blocks fast last year only to fade in the second half of the season.

Borough were top of the table after four games 12 months ago and were still in the hunt for a play-off place going into the final two months of the season.

But a return of just nine points from their last 11 games saw them slip to tenth spot, 11 points adrift of the top five.

The departure of key players like Charlie Gorman, Frankie Raymond, Chris Shephard and Craig Ross over the summer raised fears that Borough would struggle to emulate that position, let alone improve on it this year.

But a last-gasp equaliser at Wealdstone on the opening day followed by an impressive 2-0 win at home to Chelmsford on Tuesday courtesy of goals by Richard Pacquette and Gavin McCallum has lifted spirits at Priory Lane ahead of today’s visit of Weston-super-Mare.

Widdrington said: “It is very early days but I have pleased with the two performances so far.

“We probably should have had maximum points as we had enough chances to beat Wealdstone and missed a penalty but scoring right at the end makes it feel like a win.

“When you take into account we only got there at 2.30pm due to the traffic and had three of our centre-backs out through injury an away point wasn’t too bad.

“It’s definitely been a promising start considering we had to make more changes than we wanted to during the summer.

“The new lads have fitted in really well. It’s always difficult coming to a new club as a young lad when a lot of the side is already established but the likes of Lewis Carey and Sam Beale have done well.

“I’m not surprised how well we have started because there were signs during pre-season but the important thing is not to get carried away.

“There is an awful long way to go but I would like to think that if we are in a similar position at Easter to last year then we’d be able to last the pace better.

“I think the fact we faded last year was to do with a lack of experience but now we have been there once that shouldn’t be as much of a problem.”

Widdrington will still be without Charlie Losasso today as he continues his recovery from a knee injury sustained in pre-season.

The match has an extra edge for Widdrington as he attempts to get the better of Weston boss Mickey Bell who he grew up playing football with in Newcastle.

Widdrington added: “I’ve known Mickey since we were babies. We played junior football together for years so it will be great to catch up with him after the game.

“I’ve never come up against him as a manager but I used to always beat him during my playing days so hopefully I can maintain that record!”