Tonbridge boss Steve McKimm is backing striker Tommy Whitnell to rediscover his confidence and score the goals that will help ease the threat of relegation, starting with the trip to Grays on Saturday.

Whitnell ended a long drought by scoring twice in Angels’ impressive 3-1 win over fifth-placed East Thurrock in the Ryman League Premier Division clash at Longmead last Saturday. They were Whitnell’s first goals since last September.

He said: “Tommy’s been a proven goalscorer in the past but we all know that football is a confidence game.

“When you’re scoring, you can do no wrong. When it’s the other way round, well, nothing appears to go your way and that gets to you.

“Although Tommy has struggled to put the ball in the back of the net this season, and it’s not through a lacking of trying, I still think that he’s the best finisher here (at Angels).

“He scores everything that comes his way in training, and from just about anywhere, but he hasn’t had the same sort of confidence in matches.

“Hopefully, those two goals will do wonders for it (his confidence) and he can start banging them in for us in our remaining 12 games."