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Dartford right-back Tom Gardiner happy to fill in at centre-back against Maidenhead

Dartford defender Tom Gardiner took their latest defensive reshuffle in his stride.

An injury to Keaton Wood meant Gardiner was forced to move to centre-back just 15 minutes into their goalless draw with National League South leaders Maidenhead on Saturday.

Danny Harris again filled in at right-back but the Darts still produced an accomplished defensive display.

Darts defender Tom Gardiner. Picture: Andy Payton
Darts defender Tom Gardiner. Picture: Andy Payton

“It’s happened a couple of times already this season,” said Gardiner. “We had to change the formation a little bit and be organised but the lads stuck to it and did our jobs well.

“I’m comfortable in both positions, I’ve played them both quite a lot so it’s not a problem.”

It was important for Dartford to bounce back from their Bank Holiday reverse at Hampton and Gardiner revealed that was the message in manager Tony Burman’s pre-match team-talk.

“That was the main thing from the gaffer,” added Gardiner. “We had our heads on it and got a result.

“That’s our main aim when we start the game, we go out there (as defenders) to try and get a clean sheet. I thought we were unfortunate not to get a winner but maybe a draw was a fair result.

“We move on to Tuesday (against Welling). It will be a good game, it’s always tough but we’ll dig deep and go again.”

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