Boss Steve King is optimistic Deal can build some momentum on home soil in their next few matches.

The Hoops, who suffered a 3-1 defeat against early Isthmian South East high-fliers Three Bridges last weekend, will now not hit the road again until Saturday, October 25.

Deal have a Kent derby against Margate this weekend before the visit of Crowborough on Tuesday, having played surprise early strugglers Ashford tonight - all at the Charles Sports Ground - in the meantime.

King said: “Margate got into the play-offs last year.

“They have started to pick up and got a good (2-1) win at Eastbourne at the weekend. They have got a lot of experience.

“Then, Crowborough are recently promoted. They won (1-0) at Ashford and they’re doing well themselves.

“They’re tough games but we back ourselves at home, certainly in Kent derbies when we get good crowds.

"We’ll be looking to be on the front foot. We’ll be looking to attack and we’ll be looking to score some more goals.

“We’re looking forward to it and looking forward to trying to string some results together.”

While the 13th-placed Hoops sit mid-table, second-placed Three Bridges find themselves challenging for top spot in the early standings.

“Big credit to Three Bridges,” King said. “I thought they were a really good side.

“Certainly in the first half, they caused us a lot of problems and they played very well. We got the data through on Monday and they had 80 percent possession in the first half, which is an unbelievable statistic. Fair play to them.

“They played very well and, to be quite honest, we were lucky to get in at 2-1 down. It could have been three or four and we couldn’t have had many complaints. Fair play to them, they were outstanding.

“We made tactical changes at half-time. We felt we had to do something and we put Jacob Strouts - our centre-back - up front because we just thought his physicality and his size would cause them some problems.

"We went a lot more direct and, in the second half, we played really well. I felt we could have got something on another day.

"The third goal that we gave away in the second half was a killer. It was an individual mistake when we were on top and creating chances so I've got mixed feelings.

“I’m not disappointed with the players. I felt it was a good effort, fair play to Three Bridges for their first-half performance, and they were very good. That probably made them value for the win over 90 minutes - but I was pleased with how we responded in the second half.

“We felt possibly a little bit disappointed we didn’t come away with something.”

Jacob Strouts is a defender but is the brother of Folkestone forward Josh Strouts and the son of midfielder Jimmy Strouts, who enjoyed a fine non-league career.

Jacob replicated Josh in playing up front at Three Bridges - not that too much planning had taken place beforehand!

King revealed: “It’s not ever been a conversation.

“But having been around for a long time, I’ve probably learnt that, when you know the game is going against you and you’re second-best, it’s always worth just trying something.

“If we had gone out in the second half and gone on as we had in the first half, then there was no way we were going to get back into the game. They were very dominant.

“It’s a small pitch a Three Bridges and we thought, if we can be direct, play off a big frontman and get runners in behind, we might cause them some problems. That’s what happened.

“It created us quite a few chances and a bit of panic for them. Normally on bigger pitches, it’s not quite so effective because it’s harder to get runners quite so close to a frontman.

“But on their 3G pitch, which is nice and tight, it worked quite well in the second half.

“It was an ad-hoc plan. I discussed it with my coaches at the end of the first half and we thought ‘Let’s just go with it.’

“It nearly worked!”

That came after Deal had won 6-3 at home against Eastbourne last Tuesday as two-goal Owen Wilkinson, Alfie Foster, Tom Chapman, Zak Hammond and Ife Oni all netted.

“We were brilliant last Tuesday,” noted King.

“The frustration from my point of view is that we had killed the game at 4-1 with 15 minutes left. I much would have preferred 4-1 to a 6-3 scoreline.

“But there were five different goalscorers, lots of quality and having those back-to-back home wins, against Sevenoaks and Eastbourne, were important.

"It was frustrating not to follow it up on Saturday, but it showed what we’re capable of."