Faversham Town are in the midst of a “pivotal” moment in their season, according to boss Ray Turner.

The Lilywhites returned to the play-off places for the first-time since the goalless draw against Whitstable in late-September with a 2-1 success at promotion-chasing Hythe on Saturday.

Turner admitted: “It was a fantastic result for us.”

But he immediately turned his attention to Saturday’s visit of fourth-placed Walton Casuals to Salters Lane (3pm).

Turner said: “A few weeks ago we were well adrift of the

top-four but look at us now, four wins in five and with a win on Saturday we could go within three points of fourth, with a game in hand.

“It is another huge game, like the Hythe one, where three points for one team would make a real impact on the other. This could be a pivotal time in the season.”

Turner added: “I get the impression that the league is going to fragment into lots of smaller mini-leagues.

“It’s important that we are competing with the highest group possible.

“If you’re in a lower group then the pressure is on you, you have to try and win every game to keep up, whereas if you’re away in the top group, you might get a bit more breathing space. You can keep the run going with draws here and there.”

Town bounced around the lower reaches of the top-10 during a poor run of six points from seven league games but Turner said: “We have done a lot of hard work to turn things around. I think people have started to forget about that spell and hopefully we’ve put it behind us. The way things have gone, the table looks a lot better for us. We are in a good position now.”

He added: “We have changed our mindset a bit since Guernsey and Merstham (both 2-1 home defeats).

“We have not been so gung-ho when we’re looking to try and win games. We need to realise that some of the time a point in this division is not a bad result.

“That is one thing that has helped us but there are always things to work on. A clean sheet would be a good start.”

The last Town keeper to keep a clean-sheet was actually defender James Peacock – who was forced to play in goal after Simon Overland was ill – in the Whitstable clash 16 games ago.

Casuals have let in 16 goals in their last six games, including a 6-0 defeat to Herne Bay on Tuesday, while Turner has a fully-fit and available squad for the clash, with the Boxing Day trip to Sittingbourne (3pm) to follow five days later.