Dartford captain Josh Hill insists their young squad are showing great signs of maturity in the chase for the title.

The Darts sit two points clear in Isthmian Premier of both Billericay and Horsham with just four games remaining.

It was a mixed start to the season at Princes Park but the young stars in Dartford’s squad have found their feet - and are now keeping their heads as the pressure builds up.

“To be fair to this group of lads, at the start of the season there were tough times,” said Hill. “There’s a lot of young players.

“I think more than half the team is 21 or under. There’s a lot of young players and we’re still learning a lot. I’m 33 but I’m still learning.

“For us to get as close as we’ve got, four games left, it’s still in our hands. We’ve got a two-point lead and I think it’s really impressive.

“The last three weeks in particular with three wins and three clean sheets at this stage of the season is outstanding. There’s been a lot of maturity in a lot of those performances.

“Yes, the first half didn’t go our way against Folkestone last weekend, but the character has come through in the end. We’ve done that a few times.

“We’ve come back from being 1-0 down and having a bad start. It’s been a bit of an Achilles heel throughout the season but now that we’re so close to the end, we have to keep our heart on the sleeve and try to win.

“It doesn’t matter how, just get the points on the board.”

Manager Ady Pennock takes his side to Whitehawk this Saturday.

The equation is simple for Dartford. Four more wins will see them go up as champions, regardless of what happens elsewhere. But anything else could put the Darts in the play-offs.

So do thoughts of winning the title go through Hill’s mind at this stage of the campaign?

“No, because if you don’t win the next game then whatever game it is at the end doesn’t matter.

“We’ve got a big game [this] week away at Whitehawk. They did well against us here. It ended up being 4-1 but, at 2-1, it was pretty tasty in that game and they’re no mugs.

“At this stage of the season, people think they’re on the beach or they’re just chilling and waiting for the end of the season.

“A lot of those players, including the Folkestone ones last week, are playing for contracts for next season. Whether they’re challenging for a title or play-offs or in a relegation battle or sat in the middle of the table, it doesn’t really matter because everyone’s trying to earn their living for next season.

“No one’s going to roll over and give us three points and everyone knows that. Hopefully we can show our quality at Whitehawk and then we’ll go into the Easter weekend with two games in three days.”

Hill was nearly Dartford’s hero against Folkestone, seeing a stoppage-time goal ruled out for offside as substitute Louis Dunne turned the ball in on the line after Hill hooked the ball towards the far corner.

Replays show it was an excellent decision and that will ease the pain for the Dartford captain.

“I’ve kind of hooked it over my back and then I don’t know what happened,” said Hill, speaking immediately after the game. “I asked the linesman at the end, who’s offside, is it me or the guy who scored? Because I thought Louis comes in and nicks it on the line.

“If anything, I’m really hoping that if we watch it back, he is actually offside because it’ll be heartbreaking if he’s not.”

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The crowd at Princes Park grew increasingly frustrated at Folkestone’s gamesmanship as the match went on.

The visitors took a 2-0 half-time lead and were intent on maintaining that advantage. Hill didn’t blame Folkestone, but felt the officials could have done more earlier.

“I’m not going to judge them for that or think anything less of them because I’d do the same if I was in their shoes,” said Hill.

“It’s where you rely on referees. I’ve learned not to rely on referees over the time I’ve been in the game. You can see what’s happening.

“I was talking to them and saying you know what’s going on. Someone’s going down getting treatment and nothing’s happened. No one’s been within 10 yards of them.

“You should be booking the players early because they were doing that from half an hour into the game. So if you get a couple of bookings out in the first 10 minutes of the second half, it’s going to stop and the game will flow and the general momentum will go where it goes.

“Once we got a goal back, it carried on but because they’ve gone down so much, it kills the momentum of the game and specifically our momentum at that point. So it’s a shame that they let that happen but, like I said, I don’t rely on referees anymore because I’m too old for that.”