Alton manager Kevin Adair was pleased to see his side continue their good form as they won 1-0 at Balham in the Combined Counties Premier Division South on Saturday afternoon.
Jamie Hoppitt scored the only goal of the game in the 40th minute to give the Brewers the three points.
The home side were reduced to ten men in the second half when Thomas Read received a second yellow card.
The result was Alton’s seventh win out of nine games – with the Brewers keeping six clean sheets in the process.
That impressive form has seen the Brewers rise up to seventh place in the Combined Counties Premier Division South table – with 30 points from their first 20 league matches of the campaign.
“Balham is a tough place to go – they are one of the most disciplined sides in the league,” said Adair.
“Our record against Balham in the past two years hasn’t been good.
“Jamie scored a good goal to give us the lead, and we knew Balham would have a go to get back in the game.
“It’s really pleasing to have kept six clean sheets in nine games – and to have got seven wins and a draw.
“Earlier in the season we had a bit of a tricky run and could have been struggling like last season – but we’ve come through it well and are in that top half.”
Saturday’s win against Balham came at a cost for Alton, though, with Louis Russell and Evan Anderson both picking up injuries.
Adair explained they are just the two latest players to join the club’s treatment room.
“We already had eight first-team players out with injuries before the game so we’re now up to ten injuries – that’s a whole outfield team,” said Adair.
“Quite a few of the injuries are long-term – a couple are probably out for the season – but Evan is young so he should recover quickly and we’re waiting to hear on Louis.
“Matt Benham and Liam Marshall are probably out for the season, and George Bowerman is also another long-term injury.
“We’re still waiting for news on Liam Perkins and to get to the bottom of his injury – but he has already been out for a while.”
The Brewers have developed a reputation for giving young players their chance, with goalkeeper Lewis Mees and right-back Archie Larkham both regular starters, but Adair says ideally his side would have a mixture of youth and experience.
“We had young Alfie Edmonds and young Morgan Kendall on the bench against Balham on Saturday,” said Adair.
“It’s great to have so many youngsters involved but in an ideal world you have a few experienced players around them to complement them and pass on their knowledge of the game.
“I would say Morgan could learn from our first choice keeper – but Lewis is only 18 himself!”
Adair is hopefully of adding to his squad to help keep the recent good form going.
“I’m working on bringing a few players in to add to the group and give us depth,” said Adair.
“We did have an ideal first-team squad before all the injuries – but with so many injuries being long-term we need to get a few players in to help us.
“I’ve got five or six targets and we’re pretty close to confirming a couple of players.”
Alton host Sandhurst Town at Anstey Park Enclosure in the Combined Counties Premier Division South on Saturday afternoon (3pm).
Adair wants his side to produce another strong performance against Sandhurst to help keep their momentum going.
“We’ll be concentrating on ourselves and working on producing a good performance to hopefully get another good result,” said Adair.
“We’re looking forward to the game.”