CONOR Gough believes Canvey Island would be fighting up the other end of the Ryman Premier League if they had the current squad from the beginning of the season.

The goalkeeper helped Canvey to a 1-1 draw at Staines Town on Saturday, with the point keeping the Gulls three points above the relegation places with three matches remaining.

But with matches against title hopefuls Havant & Waterlooville and play-off chasing Billericay Town to come, Danny Heale’s team are far from assured their place in the league next year.

And Gough, 23, says he believes, had the current crop of players been at the club since August, the play-offs could be a possibility.

“We have a great set of lads here and if we had this group from November or before we would be in a very different position,” he said. “The play-offs could be possible but hindsight is a wonderful thing of course.

“It is very tight at the bottom this year and is a lot closer at the bottom than it was last year. We are picking up points and if we hadn’t have gone on our recent run we would be struggling.

“We didn’t turn up in the first-half against Staines,” he added. “As a collective we weren’t good enough so we came together and said we needed to make sure we would leave with nothing but a point as a minimum requirement.

“We could have taken all three near the end but it is what is is.”

Canvey have been in excellent form in recent weeks, taking 19 points from a possible 24.

And Gough insists the Gulls must continue to focus on themselves, and not their opponents’ plight in the next seven days.

“Billericay lost on Saturday so they have a point to prove while Havant are pushing for the league but we just need to look at ourselves,” he said. “If you focus on other teams too much you lose your focus.

“This division keeps getting tougher and we don’t want it to come down to the last game (against AFC Sudbury).

“We will fight all the way, that’s for sure.”