McFarlane: We’re coping well

Hornchurch manager Jimmy McFarlane has revealed he is not looking at the league table at the moment.

Urchins moved up to 11th in Conference South with a fine midweek win at Maidenhead and have 13 points from their first 10 matches.

They host Havant today (Saturday) and McFarlane said: “I’m not looking at the league table until Christmas.

“I’ve never been that concerned this season. We’re just under a quarter of what we need for safety.

“We’ve coped better than I thought we would. We’ve found our level straight away, it’s just been a case of taking chances.”

Urchins added former Leyton Orient and Southend striker Wayne Gray to their ranks last week in a bid to boost their attacking options and he returned to club colours on Tuesday.

McFarlane added: “Wayne hadn’t played for two or three weeks and wasn’t ready for 90 minutes but he came on with 25 minutes to go to give Lewis (Smith) a break.

“Lewis has played every game, the full 90 minutes, and works incredibly hard. He got us the penalty and their goalie got sent off. He’s so important to us.

“Wayne came on and is good at this level. He’s clever and got us some free-kicks at important times.”