Romford’s patchy recent form has raised concerns for manager Kris Newby, but Monday’s crucial 1-0 victory at Little Oakley has sparked new belief.

Having lost 3-1 at home to White Ensign on Saturday, Newby issued a rallying cry for his squad to put their chances away and kill games early on.

“It was one of those games. In the first 20 minutes, we should have been out of sight,” he told the Recorder.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t take any of our chances in that period, and if you give lesser sides something to hold on to, it only takes a lucky chance for them to go up the other end and score.

"As soon as I said that to Lee and Charlie (Newby’s assistants), they got a corner and scored from a lucky deflection.”

Goalkeeper Harry Girling’s second sending off this season compounded Boro’s misery as he was controversially shown a straight red card after an altercation with an Ensign player.

“It’s a difficult one. Harry reported to me and the referee that one of their guys had touched him inappropriately. He screamed at the referee, so the ref called both managers on,” Newby added.

“He said to me if Harry wants me to, I can call the police, and we can have it investigated for sexual assault. Harry turned to me and said, ‘No, just deal with the player.' The next corner came in, and the Ensign player did it again to Harry, and Harry lashed out at him.

"He should have known by then they were trying to wind him up. He lashed out, and the ref has given him a red card.

“Under the circumstances, I get he’s lashed out because he’s frustrated, but I’d rather him say that he wasn’t going to continue unless the ref deals with the Ensign player.”

After another disappointing home result, Newby’s worries were eased as his side responded perfectly with a comprehensive win at Little Oakley just 48 hours later.

“It was work rate,” added the Boro boss when asked about the difference between the two performances.

“We turned up at Little Oakley, and at 7.30pm I only had nine players there due to a crash on the motorway. When everyone got there, I just told them they had been sitting around in traffic for two hours, so don’t make it a wasted journey.

"We’ve got quality in abundance, but sometimes we don’t earn the right to play our football. We had to go out there and do whatever it took to get three points.

“It was chucking it down with rain and freezing cold for the full 90 minutes. You couldn’t recognise the colour of our kits at half-time given they were all covered in mud, but it just showed me they were all willing to work hard and they were digging in in those conditions, and we got our reward.

“We outworked them, and we deserved the win.”

Boro host Halstead Town on Saturday - then Ilford on Tuesday - and Newby revealed what sort of test he’s expecting.

“I think I would have rather played them [Halstead] five or six weeks ago, because they were losing every week and comfortably. They’ve rediscovered a bit of form, but I do believe it will be a tough test at the weekend," he added.

“They’re a big, strong physical side, and they’ll be direct, but hopefully we can exploit their lack of mobility. That’s what I’ll be looking to do on Saturday."