The Summers Lane club endured a tough couple of results over the festive period

Glen Little is determined to keep Wingate & Finchley in the Bostik Premier this term and confident he can do so.

The Blues have had a tough campaign to date and Little is their third manager of the season after Keith Rowland departed in October and then Nicky Shorey followed him out the exit door a month later.

Under the former Reading and Burnley winger, Wingate have impressed at times, and particularly in the FA Trophy, but struggled for form in the Bostik Premier.

It is the reason the N12 club are 18th in the standings and only a single point above the relegation zone, but Little is confident they will be fine.

He said: “Our aim is to stay up and get everyone on board with what we are trying to do and everyone back 100 per cent.

“Once we have that hopefully we get some consistency and get the wins to take us away from trouble.

“Then we can build for next season and the sooner we are safe the quicker we can look at players for next season.

“We just want to try and get away from trouble and consolidate for next season.”

Ahead of Christmas, Blues seemed on track again after a 2-0 victory over Carshalton Athletic on December 22.

However, two heavy defeats to local clubs have seen Little and his squad firmly back in the dogfight to stay up.

On Boxing Day, Wingate lost 4-1 at Enfield Town with David Manu’s second-half goal a mere consolation in the end at Queen Elizabeth II Stadium in front of 444 fans.

After losing against Marc Weatherstone’s new club, the Blues were back at home on New Year’s Day and eager to produce a response.

Leaders Haringey Borough proved too strong, though, as they ran out 4-0 winners at the Maurice Rebak Stadium.

Rakim Richards opened the scoring in the 29th minute and second-half efforts by Anthony McDonald, Olu Durojaiye and Mark Kirby handed bragging rights to the Coles Park outfit.

Wingate had Layne Eadie sent off in the 26th minute with the game goalless and the red card proved costly.

Little will expect a positive reaction from his lowly team on Saturday at Merstham.

The Moatsiders are 11th in the table with 32 points from 22 games while Wingate have 24 points – also from 22 games this term.