CHATHAM TOWN V HOOPS PREVIEW

The Hoops face their most difficult league game of the season so far on Saturday with a trip to second-in-the-table Chatham Town.
The Chats have been in the top two since the start of the campaign and, although they surprisingly lost two league games in a row last month to Crowborough and Sheppey, they bounced back to form last weekend with a 7-0 thrashing of Rusthall away from home.
Deal manager Derek Hares said: “Chatham were one of my favourites for the league at the start of the season. They’ve had a little bit of a blip and lost a couple of games but I still think they’ll be up there.”
Chatham’s “danger man” is Paul Vines, who already has 13 goals to his name, but the Hoops also have their own in-form striker in Connor Coyne, whose goal against Lydd Town in midweek took his tally to nine in the last nine matches.
Deal have won their last four games in league and cup and they also won this Saturday’s corresponding fixture 3-1 last season, but the Chats are a much improved team since then and Hares & Co can expect a real challenge at Maidstone Road.