Tower Hamlets joint-manager AJ Ashanike wants to get on another winning run against high-flyers Basildon United this weekend.

East London Advertiser: Tower Hamlets in action against Sporting Bengal United (Pic: Tim Edwards)Tower Hamlets in action against Sporting Bengal United (Pic: Tim Edwards) (Image: Archant)

Ashanike’s men will welcome the second-place outfit to Mile End Stadium on Saturday (3pm) as they look to chase down the top six in the Essex Senior League.

But the joint-boss is under no illusions as to the task they face against the Bees.

“It’s going to be a really tough game,” said Ashanike.

“Basildon are doing really well this season, they brought in a new management team, who have brought in some really good players.

“They deserve to be where they are in the league.”

Hamlets fell to a 3-0 defeat to Marcus Harrison’s men earlier in the season, but Ashanike believes his side are stronger now.

“To be fair we have got better and we’re a lot stronger since we last played Basildon, so it’s going to be a good game.”

The joint-boss believes they must focus on their own game and not worry about the Bees players.

“The confidence is high amongst the team right now and if they stick to the game plan on Saturday, I don’t see why we can’t get something from the match,” he said. “If you look at their squad, they’re very organised and hard to break down, but we’ve just got to worry about our own performance.

“They have no real well-known players or any we should be too worried about, they have lots of very talented players, but we need to play our game.”

Hamlets go into the match on the back of a 1-0 victory against Sporting Bengal United and Ashanike wants a repeat of their eight-game winning run after beating their rivals last time out.

“It would be good to get a good run going and last time we played against Bengal we went on a really winning run,” he said.

Ashanike also revealed how delighted he is with his side at the midway point of the season as they sit seventh in the table, five points behind sixth-placed Clapton, with two games in hand.

“At the start of the season if you told me we would be where we are, I would have been over the moon,” he said.

“The target at the beginning of the season was just to survive and we have pretty much done that already. We want to keep winning and if we can climb any higher it’s an added bonus.”