Scott Porter believes Whitstable are finally reaping the rewards of their improved performances in recent months.

Town have taken nine points from their last three games after beating Sittingbourne 2-1 on Saturday and VCD Athletic 4-1 on Tuesday to follow up the previous week’s victory over Guernsey.

It marks a significant turnaround for the Reds who started March without a win since Boxing Day.

Town boss Porter said: “To be fair the Horsham (they were beaten 3-0 at home) and Herne Bay (they lost 3-1 at Winch’s Field) games were very poor, but out of eight games we’ve actually felt like we’ve played well for six of them.

“The squad was stretched back then so it has been about getting key players back and regrouping.

“We are getting our rewards now.

“It’s pleasing, we needed this as we were in a relegation fight.

“The new signings have made a big difference and we’re creating chances and scoring goals now which we weren’t doing enough before.

“Everyone has gelled together well, Stephen Smith and Ricky Freeman are back so we’ve got real competition for places.

“Three wins prove how far you can go. We’ve been saying how a couple of wins could take us up the table so it’s very tight.

“You work harder when you go through a bad run, we’ve brought in new people and changed formation.

“It’s a good dressing room at the moment.”

The double sending off of VCD’s Malachi Hudson and Usman Adeniji left Whitstable to play against nine men for an hour in Tuesday’s rescheduled fixture.

Porter explained: “We had to concentrate and keep 11 men on the pitch.

“It’s difficult to be fair, they’re in a no lose situation at that point so the pressure comes back on us a bit.

“We had to be patient, you could hear the crowd getting a bit frustrated that we weren’t scoring more once they went down to nine.

“We wore them down and scored really good goals. It was just about having patience.”

Whitstable go to Whyteleafe on Saturday knowing a win would move them three points behind their eighth-placed opponents.

“They’re a good footballing side but I’d back ourselves anywhere at the minute, we’re full of confidence,” said Porter.

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