Gregor Dougall has described Ashford’s first 10 league games as “the longest pre-season” in the club's history.

They finish 2014 with a tough trip to London 2 South East leaders Maidstone on Saturday.

Head Coach Dougall said: “It’s the way I have seen it ever since the opening games of the season against the likes of them (Maidstone), Old Colfeians and Beckenham.

“I knew then it was going to be a hard year for us, and we would spend the first half of the season getting things in place and learning about this league.

“We then go into 2015 with six home games out of nine, all against teams we know we can perform against and beat.

“It’s things like intensity and mental preparation we have to work on, because come the end of the season I want to make sure we are a better squad than when we started this journey. ”

Dougall, tongue firmly in cheek, added: “Going to Maidstone will be a nice easy afternoon for us. We are going there intending to throw everything at them. They are the best team in the league ”

Ashford will check on Will Welsh who suffered a neck injury at Crowborough, while Dan Bushell aggravated a hamstring problem.