Gary Lockyer has been handed the captain’s armband at Ashford - and made an excellent start in his new role on Saturday.

The striker scored his 26th goal this season as the Nuts & Bolts secured an impressive 2-1 comeback home win over promotion-chasing Isthmian South East side Burgess Hill last weekend.

“Gary was tremendous,” said boss Lloyd Hume.

“Forget his goal, his all-round play was outstanding. I made him captain and I questioned whether he has the discipline to do it, really.

“But he scored and got an assist for the second goal, and he set the template a lot of them followed.

“His attitude was exemplary and I was really pleased with him.”

While the plan is for Lockyer to continue as skipper of his hometown club for the rest of this season, despite defender Craig Stone predominately wearing the armband previously, he’ll need to maintain his discipline on the pitch.

Lockyer was sent off in a defeat against Phoenix Sports in December and has collected eight bookings this term.

Hume explained: “I’ve been clear with Gary that I won’t be shy to take it back off him.

“He lives and breathes the football club, which is great, but that can sometimes be to his detriment. He can care a bit too much.

“But he was great on Saturday and, hopefully, he continues playing like that.”

Getting the better of the Hillians, who had last tasted defeat in the league in November, was no mean feat for the Nuts & Bolts, who ended a three-match winless streak.

Now, Hume wants to see the mid-table team maintain those performance levels in their season run-in after a mixed campaign.

Hume said: “It was a good win. It was a very good performance.

“I wasn’t shying away from the game on Saturday because, with some of our players back, although we’ve still got a few out, we’re a match for anyone in the league.

“We’re feeling really positive about Saturday’s performance. But it’s not about Saturday’s performance, it’s about this Saturday and the Saturday after that.

“When you look at it, it’s more the teams in and around the bottom five that we’ve struggled against. We’ve already been away to Steyning and Lancing - and lost.

“When we play those teams in the bottom five, we need to be ruthless rather than complacent, which we have been.”

Fit-again midfielder Michael West came up with the game’s all-important third goal shortly after the hour mark, Lockyer having cancelled out the visitors’ first-half opener.

“Any team at our level and the level above with a fit Michael West in it, they’re a much better team,” said Hume. “Him being back has given everyone a boost.

“But it’s not just about him. It’s about the squad and they all showed real quality on Saturday.”

A crowd of 446 watched the match at Homelands.

Hume said: “Home games are very important. We had a good crowd there on Saturday.

“I would like to thank the crowd for staying with us all season. We had nearly 450 paying supporters, which was outstanding.

"I was delighted to put in a performance for them but, also, thankful they have stuck with us.

“We will get better because we’re still very ambitious as a club.”

Next up is a home game against Sheppey this weekend, United aiming to do the double over Ernie Batten’s play-off chasing team after a 2-1 triumph in December.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” Hume noted.

“It was a very even game when we played them at their place. They have got a good side and Ernie has got a good budget, probably similar to ours, and similar expectations to ourselves.

“They have probably just fallen short of where they want to be, but they’re still in and around the play-off places. We would like to be in their position - but we’re not.

“There’s no easy games at this level but, if we play to our standards, we know we’re a very good team at this level.”

Kennington suffered a second straight 3-0 Southern Counties East League Premier Division loss at Rusthall on Saturday.

They return to action at home to Hollands & Blair on Saturday, March 22, after a fixture-free weekend.