By Tom Ambrose

Jamie Martin has told his Tooting & Mitcham players the play-offs are well within their sights ahead this weekend’s trip to Eastbourne Town.

Since his arrival, the Terrors have lifted themselves from the foot of the Ryman League Division One South to within nine points of the top five.

And Martin hopes his men can continue their charge to the top – but expects the big freeze to have a say in matters.

He said: “We really believe we can push on and challenge for the play-off places – we have a good enough squad.

“The past few weeks have been a turning point for us but I think there will not be a lot of football of this weekend and I doubt ours will beat the weather.

“It hasn’t affected us so much as we’ve still been able to train on our all-weather pitches.

“All of our players are fit and back from suspension so we are ready to play.”

The Terrors pulled off a dramatic 3-2 win last week against high-flyers Hythe Town with two goals in the last six minutes.

For boss Martin, the match was proof the south Londoners have turned the corner and should fear no-one.

He said: “We’ve played all of the top four or five teams and have taken points off of them.

“But we need to be more consistent against the so-called lesser teams too.

“Apart from us, only Maidstone and Dulwich play free-flowing football – against the rest, it’s a battle for the ball.”

The Terrors have been without star defender Adam Thompson who has been on holiday in Australia, but Martin insisted the hole had been plugged by Ryan Adams’ return.

And despite only being in the Imperial Fields hot-seat since October, Martin reckons he’s got management sussed with one simple formula.

He said: “People say management is hard but it’s not – you pick the players who are playing well and drop the players who aren’t.”