Tonbridge manager Craig Nelson hopes to be given time to get things right after a difficult start to the season.

Nelson is yet to win a game as Angels boss with his side second-bottom of National League South after three draws and four losses in their opening seven matches.

Angels made a bold appointment when turning to Nelson following Jay Saunders’ decision to step down, picking the Lewes boss over more experienced candidates.

It’s a big step up from Isthmian Premier football and a different world to Southern Counties East, where Nelson cut his teeth in management with Glebe just two seasons ago.

It was always going to take time for the new boss to find his feet and prove his methods can be effective at higher levels.

“We’re not at panic stations,” said Nelson, whose side lost 2-1 at home to Enfield Town on Tuesday night.

“It’s seven games into a 46-game season, right?

“We’ve got a lot of time to be able to turn it around.

“It’s just whether, one, we’re going to get it, or, two, the players are going to get it because we can’t continue to perform that way, especially at home.”

Asked if he felt he would get the time, Nelson, who takes Tonbridge to fellow winless side Salisbury this Saturday, added: “Yes, they’ve backed me since coming in.

“They understood it wasn’t going to be an easy task from moment one.

“But what I don’t think anyone signed up for - me, the fans and the board - is to have lacklustre performances.

“If it’s a lack of effort, everything starts to get questioned, right? We’ve brought boys up from a level where people will start questioning whether they are ready.

“But I think we’ve shown in games that we’re more than ready for the level, we just need to be more consistent in those moments.

Nelson: You don’t win things by being nice

“I believe in the team we’ve assembled but we can’t keep talking about the same thing time and time again and not look to implement improvements.

“At the end of the day, it’s a results business.

“Losing games of football, it happens to everybody, right? But there’s a manner of how.

“I think if we are on the front foot and wanting to do the right things and it’s showing in the performance, effort, desire, wanting to try and score goals, then the feeling of this doesn’t happen and it feels like you’re closer to getting it.

“But when you perform really well and then don’t and then do and then don’t, it doesn’t build trust.

“We have to make sure that we’re able to put consistent performances together and that’s how you turn corners.

“But, if we continue to ship in the same type of goal, then we have to look at the team, right?

“If we feel and we trust that we’re setting the team up in the right way, it’s whether or not we can execute the game plan that is the difference, right?

“So it leaves us looking at do we need to bring in others or do we need to improve the squad in certain areas?

“I think that’s something we will constantly look at throughout the season, regardless of what’s happening, but it becomes more of a concern when you’re not winning games of football.”

This weekend’s opponents, Salisbury, have an identical record of three draws and four defeats.

They’re expected to fare well this season after a busy summer but have made a slow start.

Everything feels better after a win and Tonbridge, who drew 3-3 at home to Farnborough last weekend, are desperate to collect those first three points.

“I thought we were there on Saturday, to be fair,” said Nelson.

“We did really well in large moments of that game but, again, we made stupid mistakes and let ourselves down.

“If you’re winning games, even if the performance isn’t right, no one cares and people forget it really quickly.

“But when you’re not winning, everything gets amplified.”