Danny Hollands: Rocks players must treat rest of season like finals

Former Pompey and Charlton midfielder Hollands took over as Rocks boss from Jamie Howell last week and on Saturday steered his outfit to a creditable 1-1 draw at home to high-flying Westfield in his first game in the hot seat.

Bognor are 13th in the league with 40 points from 33 games played – four points above the drop zone – and have nine games left in which to pull away even further from the bottom four -- and they aim to take another step to safety at Hartley Wintney on Saturday.

That comes after Hollands shared his thoughts on a hard-fought draw earned by a gutsy display and a goal from Cal Laycock before the visitors drew level through former Rocks attacker Finn Evans.

Speaking to Rocks Radio, the new gaffer said: “It was always going to be a tough start against a team who are trying to win the league -- but it was more about us, not them. I wanted a reaction from the players. I wanted to see us enjoy the ball and at times we did that. It's going to be a process. The games (coming up) are cup finals and I have told the players that and what we require from now until the end of the season.

"I think they showed good character against Westfield and on the flip side of that we could have had another couple of goals, which is a positive. It's a good step in the right direction."

Hollands is fully aware of the qualities of the squad that he has inherited after playing a handful of games for the Rocks in midfield earlier in in the campaign -- and he has told his charges they must continue to up their game.

He added: "They want to work hard, they will work hard. They will continue to take information onboard and if we do well good, and if not, we will assess it and see how we can improve. I believe they are better than what they are showing and they must show that on the pitch or it means nothing.

"I've asked the lads to do certain things and I knew it wasn't going to be perfect because I've had one training session but they took the majority of it onboard so I can't be too picky. At the start of the game if you'd said we will take a point out of this game we would have bitten your hand off so it's step in the right direction.

"The main thing was making sure that I couldn't dig out anyone and say you didn't work 100 per cent for the shirt and I think they all did that. They put their bodies on the line… competed, so I can't say anything negative about that aspect of our performance.”

And the Nye Camp chief says fan power can help the cause as the remainder of the campaign unfolds after witnessing superb support for his bow as boss. He added: “The fans were absolutely brilliant and at times it is going to be tough and the crowd need to dig in and get behind us.”