Dartford head into January in a perilous position for the second year running but manager Tony Burman believes they can go one better than last season by avoiding relegation.

This time last year, Darts had 18 points from 26 games and were five points from safety. Now they have five more points but are further adrift (seven) in their battle for survival.

Burman, whose side were relegated in April before being reprieved in June, knows he has another fight on his hands.

He said: "I’m disappointed we’re in the same position we were in last year.

"I still feel we’ve got a better squad this year but we’ve got to start winning games. It’s as simple as that.

"Results have gone against us but if you look at how many games we’ve drawn, which is eight, we can say that’s an extra 10 points we should have.

"It hasn’t worked out the way we were expecting and the last thing I wanted was for us to be in the position we’re in. But we will fight to get out of it."

Things look bleak for Dartford but their plight was put into perspective last week by the news that Hereford United had been wound-up and their Edgar Street stadium repossessed. The Bulls, like Salisbury, finished above Dartford last season before being kicked out of the Conference on financial grounds.

Burman said: "We managed to stay in the league through abiding by the rules, which is a massive thing that has to happen. Although it’s been disappointing in respect of the points we’ve got at the moment, we’re still around and still viable.

"You don’t want to see any club go to the wall but the club is a business and it’s got to run within its means."

Read the full story in the Dartford Messenger.