Skipper Joe Vines reveals a foul-mouthed tirade from boss Billy Smith proved crucial as Tooting & Mitcham kept alive their flickering Ryman Premier play-off hopes on Monday night.

The 3-2 win over promotion rivals Wealdstone at Imperial Fields eased the Terrors closer to a top-five spot and ended a two-game winless streak.

And Vines reckons quiet man Smith’s pre-game rant was just the kick up the backside his team needed.

He said: “Billy was really going for it in the dressing room.

“He was swearing away and really getting excited.

“In fact, one of the players counted and he rattled up 106 swear words in his five-minute team talk.

“That may be funny, but it really fired us up and we went out on the pitch and did the business.”

Once again it was the Paul Vines and Simon Parker show on Monday, Vines grabbing a brace before Parker struck a last-gasp winner.

Vines was also on target in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Canvey Island, and brother Joe admits it is now all about putting together a sequence of wins.

He added: “Monday was a great win and it was a deserved win.

“There is a lot of attitude among the team and we worked really hard.

“If we can go on a run we are still in it as far as the play-offs are concerned.

“There are other teams on our shoulder but we just need to keep winning - plain and simple.”

Tooting host AFC Hornchurch this weekend as they look to look to keep things interesting.

And, having made it back-to-back home wins for just the second time this season, Vines is in confident mood.

The skipper added: “We are going to give everything we can to try and do it.

“If we can see off Hornchurch we will really be on a roll and anything is possible.

“We seem to have been on the fringes of the play-off places all season and now is the time for us to step up.”

Tooting & Mitcham’s next three matches: Mar 27 AFC Hornchurch (h), Apr 3 Hastings United (a), 5 Carshalton Athletic (h)