My players will do extra for nothing - Lewes FC boss praises Rooks' spirit

The Rooks found themselves behind after just twelve minutes when Daniel Bassett put the hosts in front with a curling strike into the top corner of Lewis Carey’s net.

Lewes flipped the game on its head just before half time, when two goals in the space of a minute from Michael Klass (36) and Razz Coleman De-Graft (38) put the visitors into a deserved lead.

Lewes were able to see the game out after a nervy final few minutes, which also saw Ergis Shala sent off on his debut for Carshalton, after he received his second booking of the match.

Lewes manager Tony Russell praised his side's character and togetherness following the victory: “We brought a whole new squad in, so there’s not one player from last year. That was always going to take time to bond them and gel them, but we’ve done that now so they’re very close. They’re a good group and they all get on so there’s plenty of character in the dressing room. Also, they like each other so they’ll stick together.”

Talking about the dressing room togetherness, Russell spoke about the commitment and application his players had shown throughout the season, including turning up to extra midweek training sessions.

“Let me give you an example of what these boys (players) are like and what we’ve created. Most non-league teams do Saturday game, Tuesday training, Thursday training and Saturday game," he said.

“We did a game Saturday, we had a game Tuesday as far as we were aware, we had Leatherhead and we train on the Wednesday. We got them (players) in on Monday, we said to them after the (Carshalton) game we want to do a bit (training) on Leatherhead, will you come in and do an extra session for free? There’s no extra bonuses but we just want to out work everyone.

“We’ve done that a lot this season and they all (players) come in, they all come in. They do extra sessions. The game (Leatherhead) got called off so they would’ve played and come in next day and train.

“There aren’t many managers out there, at our level or semi-professional, that will get the whole group to come in for an extra session. That tells you everything you need to know about the group.”

Lewes’s next fixture is at home to eighth placed Margate on Saturday. Russell praised Gate manager Jay Saunders: “I’ve known Jay a long time, he’s a top man and a real good guy. I think they’ve done well; he’s been there a little while now I think it’s his fourth year. He’s putting together a decent side, they’re competitive.

“I think with Margate if you’re a top side, if you don’t play well, you get beat by them no doubt, they’ve got some good players. If you’re at it and playing well, you should win.”

Lewes will without the suspended Mitchell Nelson whilst Tom Phipp and Ollie Tanner are doubts with injury. Midfielder Bradley Pritchard is available again after injury.