Howell and Birmingham replaced Robbie Blake and steered their bottom-of-the-table charges to a valuable point in a 1-1 draw at Potters Bar Town in the Isthmian premier division on Saturday.

Now they face three Sussex derby clashes on the bounce over the festive schedule, starting at Horsham on Boxing Day. That game is followed by a home game against Hastings United on December 28 before Chichester City pitch up at the Nye Camp on January 1.

The two players coming in are believed to be defenders and they follow attacker Lewis Beale, who played at Potters Bar on Saturday, in to the group after he penned a deal from Wimborne Town.

Howell says he and his management sidekick have been pleased with the upbeat mood in the camp. He said: “It’s been a good start. Birmy and I have been pleasantly surprised the lads’ enthusiasm and their work ethic. There are some small points we are trying to change initially; we don’t want to change too much too quickly as we don’t want to overload them with too much information at the moment.

“We thought Potters Bar was a really good start. Birmry’s got great enthusiasm and motivation and I think that rubbed off on the boys and it was a really good performance. It was disappointing not to get the win in the end but 1-1 was a good start. We are trying to bring a couple of new players in but I don’t know if that has been signed and sealed so we will have rot wait to announce those.

“The games are coming thick and fast and players don’t get time to recover and we are going to have to use the whole squad. Horsham is going to be a tricky game, they are obviously a very good team and it will be a hard test there. Then we are looking forward to getting back to Nyewood Lane for Hastings and then Chichester City in the New Year and hopefully we can get some points on the board. We are looking forward to seeing all the Rocks fans and want to wish them all a very merry Christmas!”