Tommy Warrilow has told Ashford’s injured players he hasn’t forgotten about them.

The Nuts & Bolts are flying high in Isthmian South East, level on points with new leaders Chatham, after George Nikaj’s double and a Gil Carvalho goal in a 3-1 win at Sittingbourne last weekend.

Warrilow, who has re-signed utility man Jarred Trespaderne from Hythe, could be forgiven for concentrating solely on the players he has available, with a big home game against Whitehawk coming up this Saturday (3pm).

But that’s not the case, with the Ashford manager keen to ensure everyone feels included.

He said: “We’re hoping to get three back over the next few weeks - Henry Muggeridge, Bradley Simms and Johan ter Horst - and that leaves Alex Brown, who’s got to have an operation, Rhyle Ovenden, Vance Bola, Jacob Russell, Tariq Ossai and Mikey Dalton.

“I’m not naming them because I want to point out how many injuries we’ve got, it’s to let them know I haven’t forgotten about them, and I won’t forget about them.

“These boys are all proper players, not fringe players, they’re boys other clubs would have in their team.

“They’re doing me a massive favour without knowing it, because the boys in the team can see who we’ve got to come back and they know they can’t drop their standards.

“When they all come back, I’m not going to be able to keep everyone happy, but keep playing as they are and keep improving and there’s going to be some tough decisions to make.

“If everyone had been fit we’d never have had a squad this size but, at the moment, no one is surplus.”

Trespaderne’s arrival follows that of striker Omari Hibbert, who’s joined on dual-registration from National South club Dulwich Hamlet.

Warrilow was keen to add to his options in attack, with Gary Lockyer one booking away from a ban and Nikaj only on loan from Dover.

Nikaj’s second month at Homelands is up, with Ashford awaiting confirmation he can extend his stay.

Even then, Dover will have a call-back option on the nine-goal striker who has been a huge success.

Warrilow, speaking on Tuesday, said: “Hand on heart, I’m not 100% sure what’s going to happen.

“I guess I’ll find out over the next couple of days.

“Obviously we want him to stay, and he’s enjoying it because he’s playing and scoring goals, but it’s Dover’s decision.

“I love him to bits but he’s not our player - eventually he’ll have to go back.”

Nikaj gave Ashford an early two-goal lead at Sittingbourne, with Carvalho completing the scoring after Donvieve Jones pulled one back.

It was a sixth win in seven games for the Nuts & Bolts, who remain unbeaten since losing at Faversham in August.

“That’s a great result to win at Sittingbourne, I expect them to be up there at the end of the season,” said Warrilow.

“No disrespect to them but it should have been done and dusted at half-time. Instead of that it’s only 2-1.

“I went mad at half-time because that’s part of the game we’ve got to be better at - we’ve got to kill teams off.

“As it is, we’ve let them back into it and they’ve finished the first half strong.

“We knew we had to be on our toes in the second half and play in the right areas.

“We could have had a couple more before we got our third but I thought it was a thoroughly deserved win against a very good side.”