JACK Giddens believes East Thurrock United have turned the corner after picking up encouraging results against promotion-chasing Dartford and Concord Rangers.

Rocks endured a disappointing first half of the season, which has left them in the National League South relegation zone.

But East Thurrock recovered from their Boxing Day defeat to Concord by securing draws against Dartford and the Beach Boys in the reverse fixture on New Year’s Day.

And, although Giddens feels Rocks should have claimed maximum points from their last two outings, the goalkeeper is aware that it is a step in the right direction.

“Due to the way we played in the second half, I thought we should have won the game against Concord,” said the goalkeeper, who also keen to praise the travelling supporters.

“We didn’t start the game very well and we were non-existent for the first 20 or 25 minutes if the truth be told.

“Concord went ahead in that time and if they scored again, it would have been difficult to come back into the game.

“But we stayed in the game and gave ourselves the opportunity to come away with a positive result.

“It’s frustrating because I feel we could have won the game, but it is still a great point.

“It was the same story in the Dartford game because I thought we could have won that game as well.

“They played for an hour or so with 10 men, so we were disappointed not to take all three points.

“Dartford are a good side and rely a lot on set-pieces, so we were a little naive because we gave away a lot of free-kicks.

“I think we should have taken six points from the games against Concord and Dartford and although that is frustrating, we are unbeaten in two games and that is positive.

“It’s a step in the right direction and hopefully we have turned the corner now.”

Rocks have conceded 39 goals in 24 National League South fixtures.

East Thurrock have also struggled at the other end of the pitch, scoring just 20, and Giddens has called on his team-mates to be more ruthless.

“The goals we have conceded over the Christmas period could have been prevented, but we are starting to put the ball in the back of the net now,” added Giddens.

“We defend from the front and all of the boys need to put a shift in.

“We need to be more ruthless in both boxes and hopefully I can pick up more clean sheets in 2019.”