Boss Spencer Collins reckons a watertight defence will be the key if Walton Casuals are to continue their recent revival.

Back-to-back league wins, and back-to-back clean sheets, has seen the Stags distance themselves from the foot of the Ryman Division One South.

And after the latest success, a crucial 1-0 triumph at bottom club Whitstable Town on Saturday, Collins is confident things are on the up.

He said: “My way of thinking has always been you get the back four sorted and the rest will follow.

“If you do not concede goals you will not get beaten – it is as simple as that.

“You can have a team packed with flair players but if you cannot defend you are always going to struggle.

“We have had a lot of injuries and I was playing people out of position, but that seems to be clearing up and now we have the back four in place.

“We are still a work in progress but we are improving.”

Saturday's win, courtesy of a Leon Yarnie strike, came on the heels of a 1-0 triumph over Leatherhead, and an impressive 4-3 League Cup defeat of Ryman Premier side Kingstonian.

And Collins admits the importance of the wins cannot be overestimated.

He added: “We have a lot of players back and we are starting to look like a team again.

“We went into the last couple of games thinking we should get something out of them and that has proved the case.

“The two wins have come against sides below us in the league and hopefully we can start to move into mid-table.

“We will be up against it this weekend though when we play Croydon Athletic, as they are a very good side.

“They have some excellent players and I fully expect them to be challenging for promotion come the end of the season.”

Walton Casuals' next three matches: Nov 21 Croydon Athletic (h), 25 Ashford Town (a), 28 Chipstead (h)