Horsham FC boss Di Paola: It’s been a pretty tough two-and-a-half weeks for us

The Hornets have grappled with six games in 18 days, with the majority coming away from home. Horsham have clocked up the miles in recent weeks, travelling to North London and Essex for four of their last five Isthmian Premier games.

The Hornets’ latest away trip saw them play out a goalless draw at 17th-placed Bowers & Pitsea on Saturday.

The Hornets have also been beset by injuries, with a number of key players - including 2021-22 player of the year Lee Harding and midfield maestro Charlie Hester-Cook - missing large swathes of the early campaign.

Di Paola said: “The last five out of seven have been long away games. The boys were almost out on their feet on Saturday. It’s no coincidence that the ones who played the majority of the minutes seemed a bit flat.

“We just need to regroup and go again. It’s been a pretty tough two-and-a-half weeks for us.

“But it’s all good. We’ve got to be positive. We will be in a better place in a couple of weeks time.

“I don’t think we’re in any different position to other teams, we’re just having a bit of a bad spell. I’m just hoping that other teams will have spells like this.

“If we hadn’t had the Enfield game called off I’m not sure we would have had as poor a run as we’ve had. That would’ve spread them [games] out a little bit.

“It happens to every team. It’s not an excuse. If you had offered me an extra four points from our last five games I’d have been really happy with our start.”

Saturday saw Horsham return from Bowers with a point. The visitors had the chance to snatch victory at the death but Tom Richards’ effort rattled the post.

Di Paola added: “They [Bowers & Pitsea] were hard to break down, but in the first half we didn’t really do enough in terms of creating chances.

“We’ve gone a bit flat in terms of scoring at the moment. I thought we were dominant in the second half. We had some good opportunities, and we could have gotten something out of it to be honest.

“It took us three hours to get to Essex on Saturday because of traffic problems at Dartford. Stuff like that takes its toll on the players.”

The Hornets entertain high-flying league rivals Aveley in the FA Trophy third qualifying round this Saturday.

Di Paola hopes to have Tom Kavanagh and Daniel Ajakaiye, who have both suffered hamstring issues, and Jack Brivio and Richards back to full fitness after a full week’s rest.