That’s the belief of Rocks management duo Jamie Howell and Michael Birmingham as they prepare their squad for the vital game against Folkestone Invicta at Nyewood Lane on Saturday.
The assertion comes on the back of a Higgs double — taking his season’s tally to 21 — in the thrilling 4-4 draw at Carshalton Athletic last week. The point gained from the incredible encounter provided a tally of seven from nine available in the past three league games and maintains the hope that top flight status can be retained.
The bosses are under no illusion that it’s going to be a tough ask — Rocks are still 10 points adrift from safety — but while Higgs is in such a rich vein of form hope springs internal.
Howell said hotshot Higgs, who is keeping the lively Dan Gifford out of the starting line-up, has stepped up when the pressure is on and appreciates that without his goals the perilous position could be even worse.
He said: “To be fair Tommy has been excellent for us, especially more recently. Technically he is a superb player and you can see that he has quality on the ball, his two goals at Carshalton proved that, no question.”
But Howell says there is a cautionary aspect to consider after the eight-goal thriller at Carshalton given that the visitors effectively blew a 3-0 lead attained after just 18 minutes.
He added: “We must learn that we can’t let teams off, we need to put pressure on the ball and to dictate where we are going to send then when we are defending — because if you give good players time on the ball they are going to but you and they did.”
On the encounter at the Nye Camp against Folkestone Invicta, he said supporters can expect an expansive approach in the bid to grab the win. He said: “All our games are win or bust to some extent We are back at home and we have been backed by the supporters magnificently, our fans have been tremendous and we need them to turn up again. We are playing well; the spirit is good in the camp so if we can take that forward to there is no reason why we can’t get three points.”
