In the middle of a muddle, Whitehawk’s recent form has dipped somewhat of late.

An imperious start to the season left Shaun Saunders’ side one victory away from climbing to the top of the table, but two consecutive league defeats have seen the East Brighton club slip quietly away.

“Frustrating, but I’m not too downbeat”, said Saunders after his team’s freezing 2-1 defeat Sevenoaks Town last Wednesday.

“We’ve had a great start; we didn’t get too carried away with our start, and we won’t get too downbeat with back-to-back defeats.

The expectation had been laid, but as the Hawks entered a sticky patch that commenced with a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of league leader’s Ramsgate, it appears to have knocked a slice of confidence from the club.

High-flying Chatham Town make the venture from Kent to The Enclosed Ground this weekend, and it will be the Hawks’ first game in tn days after Saturday’s trip to Chichester City was postponed due to a frozen pitch.

For a team that have lost just once at home in the league all campaign, there remains a curtain of optimism draped over The Enclosed Ground surface that continues to swell after achieving a season-high 478 supporters last time out.

But now it is up to the players to rekindle the form that has cemented a playoff place over the festive period.

“Strip it back, work harder, and go back to basics”, discussed Saunders on returning to form.

“It’s just a case of rolling our sleeves up and working harder”, he continued.