Horsham boss admits a second successive top-two finish is unlikely

Isthmian Premier Division leaders Worthing are currently 12 points clear of Di Paola’s Hornets, while second-placed Folkestone Invicta are seven points away.

Having reached their pre-season target of 51 points following last Saturday’s 2-0 win over Haringey Borough, dreams of another play-off fairytale are beginning to reappear amongst supporters.

But Di Paola insisted his feet are remaining firmly planted to the ground.

He said: “The boys want to do as well as they can.

“There’s not a footballer I’ve come across that doesn’t want to finish as high as possible or do as well as possible but there are a lot of variables.

“In the last few weeks a lot of teams that have moved near the top have been making some quite big signings to strengthen so there’s a lot of teams that see this season as their opportunity to kick on.”

The Hornets were promoted from the Isthmian South East via the play-offs last year, after finishing second.

But Di Paola conceded that a second successive top-two finish was unlikely.

He said: “The top two or three positions are gone.

“Worthing will be up there, along with probably Cray and Hornchurch, and then there’s probably only one spot free.

“We’ve just got to enjoy the opportunity, see how we get on and go from there. One day we might be in a position where we’re favourites.

“I’ve never been at the club where we’ve been financially the favourite or had the personnel so it’s sort of suck it and see.

“You never know how it’s going to go, and I’m pretty happy with that.

“When the club come to me and say ‘we want to kick on, we want promotion’ or ‘we want success’ then the pressure comes, but until then, we’ll just carry on doing what we’re doing, try to get as many points as we can and finish as high as we can.”

Horsham travel to ninth-placed Leatherhead, a side who have lost just once in their last six games, this Saturday.

The two sides met at The Camping World Community Stadium on the opening day of the season when Rob O’Toole cancelled out Eddie Dsane’s opener.

Di Paola said: “They’ve changed their team around loads since we played them.

“The way they play is really hard to play against and obviously they’re in great form so it’s going to be another tough game.”

Horsham’s Sussex derby at home to fellow BetVictor Premier Division play-off contenders Bognor Regis Town has been rescheduled for Tuesday March 10.

The game at the Camping World Community Stadium was due to take place next Tuesday (Feb 18) but Bognor have been forced to rearrange their Sussex Senior Cup quarter-final with Brighton under-23s for next Wednesday (Feb 19).

The cup tie - planned for February 11 - was called off after Sunday’s Storm Ciara gales caused damage to the covering over the terrace at the clubhouse end of Nyewood Lane.