Herne Bay manager Ben Smith has had his say on comparisons between clubs’ budgets in Isthmian South East this season.

Smith, whose side are chasing promotion, thinks bosses who claim to be working with much smaller budgets than most may need such claims put into perspective.

He said: “I hate the negativity around ‘this club is paying this money, this club is paying this money’. It goes in roundabouts.

“Whitstable had a good budget at one point when Scott Porter was there, Faversham had a good budget at one point with Ray Turner.

“The clubs that claim to not have a good budget in this league - I think you are talking about hundreds of pounds difference, not thousands.

“Really, over a squad and staff on a per-player basis, you are not talking about a lot.

"So I think people oversell that.

“We could be saying ‘Well, we don’t have as much money as Cray Valley and Hastings’ but I’m happy with my budget.

“Whether it’s as much as they have, it’s irrelevant. It’s what you do with it.

“We have got a good squad together at the minute. We are in a good place. We have just got to keep the positivity.

“I think the teams that get in the play-offs will be the ones that get over the disappointing times in the season. The ones that get over that quicker than the others, they will be in the play-offs because there’s not much difference in the sides.

“You also have sides like your Favershams that will turn in good performances every now and again, and they are more than capable of beating the top sides.

“I sound like a broken record every week, saying it will be a tough game.

"It will be a tough game but, potentially, we have the quality to make it an easier game than it might look.”

Bay are fifth in the league, having won 2-1 against Lancing on Saturday through efforts from Zak Ansah and Bode Anidugbe.

They thrashed East Grinstead 6-1 on Tuesday night in the Velocity Trophy first round.

Recent arrival Rory Smith scored twice, as did Laurence Harvey. Bay’s other goals came from strikers Ansah and Aaron Millbank.

There was also a first senior appearance for under-16s player Devon Mason, who came on in the second half.

They end a run of three straight home fixtures inside seven days against Burgess Hill, who are ninth, this weekend.

Smith recently watched the Hillians beat Whitstable 1-0 at the Belmont.

Herne Bay have games in hand on everyone above them as well, having in fact played less league matches than anyone else at this stage, with Smith saying: “I think, between now and Christmas, is the time where that table will really take shape.

“There’s some big games coming up but, if we have any thought of getting in the play-offs or even better than that, we’ve got to treat every game like it’s make or break.”

Promising teenage goalkeeper Lucas Hanley has joined Canterbury City on a dual-registration basis, although he played for Bay in midweek.

Bay travel to Whitehawk on Tuesday night.