Isthmian League Sussex derby night - and it already looks vital for some

Horsham and Bognor face one another at The Camping World Community Stadium each having taken a point from their opening game then lost their second match this past weekend.

For two clubs who have a promotion or play-off push in their thoughts, defeat here would perhaps have a few fans - if not players or managers - with furrowed brows.

Meanwhile Lewes host Worthing already under a little pressure after losing their first two league games. Or is it simply too early to be talking about pressure?

At Horsham, manager Dom Di Paola says more results like his side's 2-1 home defeat to Cheshunt could be on the cards. He told the Hornets website: “If we had a Lea Dawson or Joe Shelley, we wouldn’t have lost to Cheshunt. That’s not being disrespectful to the new lads we’ve brought in, because they’re all excellent players themselves, but we’ve pretty much had to reset this season while they’ve settled in.

“That sense of digging in and fighting for each other, which we’ve done so well over the last few seasons, comes with having a settled side that brings that sense of togetherness. At the moment we’re not getting that and I think we might see a few more performances like we put in on Saturday until we get it right.

“We’re not too concerned yet but the players need to step up to the plate. With the injuries and suspensions, everyone is going to get the opportunity to stake their claim for a place in the side and if they can’t do that then we’ll have to look at changing things.”

Bognor manager Jack Pearce has been at pains to point out the side he and Robbie Blake are putting out needs time to gel. As ever with the Rocks, it contains plenty of young players - and their early season has not been helped by having key defender Joe Cook sent off in the opening game and four out of seven defenders on the treatment table.

Cook is now past his ban and will come back into the side at Horsham, where Bognor won 2-0 in what proved to be the teams' last action before lockdown in March.

Further east, at The Dripping Pan, Lewes know they will have their work cut out if they're to pick up their first point, or three, at home to Adam Hinshewlwood's Worthing, who so far look good for another strong attempt at promotion - after that prize was denied them last year by the decision to null and void a league they led by some margin with ten games left.

Lewes boss Hugo Langton would love ot put one over Worthing but they are a team he admires hugely. He told us: "What can you say about Worthing? They're a top, top, top team. Any club in this league who finishes above them will do very well and will probably win it.

"Adam Hinshelwood deserves so much praise for what he's done there. But he hasn't done it overnight. I said last season I'd have paid to watch Worthing. I was almost clapping them from my own technical area."

For Worthing's part, wins at Folkestone and Kingstonian in their opening pair of league games will mean fans can perhaps put worries over their pitch problems - which mean them being on the road for quite a few weeks more - going to the back of their minds.

Our predictions: Horsham 1 Bognor 1 / Lewes 1 Worthing 3

We'll have news from both games on the @sport_sussex Twitter feed on Monday night and reports on our websites on Wednesday - plus reaction in the papers on Thursday and Friday.