Wingate & Finchley manager Spencer Knight says his squad executed the game plan perfectly as they sealed an emphatic 4-1 victory over Corinthian Casuals.

A hat-trick from long-serving midfielder Ahmet Rifat and a late Duane Ofori-Acheampong strike sealed the three points and moved the Blues up to 13th in the Ishtmian League Premier Division table.

“After a defeat last time out it was good to bounce back with a win and the boys executed the game plan to perfection,” Knight said.

“We scored some good goals from set-pieces, also just from crosses in general, and we thoroughly deserved the win. I’m just really pleased to get another three points on the board.”

The boss is delighted with his side’s start to the season after coming in last term to help them avoid relegation.

“When we spoke right at the start of the season all I was looking for was an improvement on last season and see where it would take us,” he added.

“Although we have probably left a few points out there, I still would say we’re in a much stronger position than last year, and I’m much happier with the squad.

“The strength in depth is there, I had to shuffle the pack last night (Tuesday), and probably had three of our better players missing, so to still be able to produce a result like was really important.

“In pre-season we wanted to make sure we had that strength and depth because especially this season it’s going to be needed more than ever with the games coming thick and fast.”

Wingate are without a match on Saturday as they were due to face Cray Wanderers, who are in the FA Cup action, after last weekend’s fixture against Merstham was postponed due to Covid-19 precautions.

“I say they’re coming thick and fast but we’ve got 10 days off now,” Knight chuckled.

“We got knocked out of the FA Cup early and we were supposed to play Cray, but they’re still in, so we’ll just have to use that to our advantage.

“I’ve got a couple of boys out injured so hopefully additional time off will help them be back ready to play next time we play.”