Dartford joint-boss Jamie Coyle has insisted that better performances are just as important as an upturn in results.

Darts stopped a three-game losing streak by beating East Thurrock 2-0 at Princes Park on Monday.

It ends a topsy-turvy opening month at the helm for Coyle and Adam Flanagan, with Darts taking 10 points from seven games.

Mixed results have been punctuated by some sub-standard displays and Coyle knows that both need to improve.

“We have been disappointed because not only have we not got the results but the performances have been poor and that’s been a concern,” said Coyle.

“On paper we’ve had a real tough start, it was always going to be a difficult August.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do. Are we happy with where we are? I’d say no in terms of the performance levels at times. That’s what’s key for us.

“Obviously, results are important because we want to get to where we want to get to but we’ve got to have a level of performance.

“If we lose games, we can’t lose them when we’ve been outworked by the opposition and that’s happened recently.

“That’s what was nice against East Thurrock, our work-rate from the front two all the way across the pitch was brilliant.

“Our desire and work ethic was there and that’s what got us through the game. That has to be the minimum requirement from this team. If we can add a little more quality in the final third, even if that’s centre-halves scoring more from set pieces, then we’ll be a threat.”

There were three new faces training with Dartford last week – and Coyle has not ruled out making an addition to the squad sooner rather than later.

“We always have to look to improve what we’ve got,” he said.

“We’ve got a good core in the squad but we’ve missed certain players when they haven’t played. There’s been opportunities for players to step up and keep the shirt.

“I want to remain positive but we always need to look at how we can improve. If we need to bring in one or two fresh faces to get that then we will do.

“We had three new faces training last week that we’re looking at and we’ve been offered a couple of decent players this week. We’ll enjoy the win because it’s been a tough two weeks but we’ll see how we can improve moving forward.”

Read the full story in this week's Dartford Messenger