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Dartford FC boss Tony Burman says the supporters will be vital when his side play Oxford City at Princes Park

Tony Burman has called on Dartford fans to turn up the volume at Princes Park for Saturday’s must-win clash with Oxford City.

Darts are three points outside the National League South play-offs with two games left following last weekend’s goalless draw with relegated Basingstoke.

A win against City would carry their promotion hopes to the final day of the regular season and Burman says his players need to hear the crowd from minute one.

Dartford manager Tony Burman Picture: Andy Payton
Dartford manager Tony Burman Picture: Andy Payton

He said: "It’s a strange feeling at the moment at home.

"There are a lot of supporters who feel that if we go up, it’s not the right time. Whether that’s affecting them or it’s just the way the team is playing, I’m not sure.

"I know the onus is on the team to ignite the crowd but we might need a little bit of help on Saturday.

"I hope we can recreate an atmosphere like it is sometimes at away games, where everyone has turned up and got behind the lads, supporting them loudly. I hope that on Saturday, the crowd can do that.

"You can’t pick and choose when you want to go up or stay in a certain league. We’ve got to try to get into the play-offs and people’s thoughts must be spoken after games.

"In the 90 minutes, let’s just get behind the side and accept the consequences."

Ebbsfleet and Maidstone are confirmed in the play-offs but seven clubs are still fighting over the other two spots. Truro and Hemel Hempstead occupy fourth and fifth as things stand but everything could change by Saturday evening.

Dartford were held to a 0-0 draw by relegated Basingstoke Picture: Andy Payton
Dartford were held to a 0-0 draw by relegated Basingstoke Picture: Andy Payton

Burman said: "It’s interesting. This league has been strange.

"If you take the top three out of the equation, the rest of the teams have had good runs and been a little bit inconsistent.

"All of a sudden, Truro lost two games on the trot. We lost four games over a two-week spell in March but we bounced back and are still involved in the play-offs.

"There’s still teams that have to play a lot of games and it could tell so we’ll see what happens.

"It looks like it’s going to end up going to the last game of the season, which was a reasonable target for us.

"If we’re going to cross that line, we’ve got to win both of our games."

Danny Harris, Tom Bradbrook and Lee Noble could all start against mid-table Oxford, while Barry Cogan may also return to the Dartford squad.

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