DARREN Manning says he wants Hullbridge Sports to be clear of the bottom of the Essex Senior League come the end of the month.

Sports were 3-2 winners at West Essex on Saturday and know victory against Sawbridgeworth Town this evening could lift them as high as 16th in the standings - although the amount of teams to be relegated remains undecided.

But manager Manning says he is taking nothing for granted.

“The incentive to win is huge for us as we want to be out of the bottom four by the end of January - that is the target,” he said.

“I questioned the players’ desire after the FA Vase loss and we have responded well. We now need to keep a clean sheet.

“We will score goals as we have so many good attacking players but we need to be savvy defensively. It is a huge game and we know about each other from when we played before Christmas (Sports won 3-1).

“Saturday’s game should have been comfortable,” he added. “We controlled large spells and overall were very good.”

Basildon United visit Clapton in the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy looking to book their place in the semi-finals.

The Bees were thumping 7-0 winners in the Essex Senior League on Saturday and sit third in the standings.

Meanwhile, Clapton were on the receiving end of a shock 5-1 home defeat against Stansted.

Basildon will be without Joe Skeels, although Andy Cumming will feature.