East Thurrock's Sam Higgins ready to scrap for vital points as big-boys Dulwich come to town

Rocks have only conceded two goals in their last five games, following Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Burgess Hill Town, and are the joint top scorers in the division, with 60 goals – the other side being Dulwich.

Higgins has been one of East Thurrock’s brightest sparks this season, along with fellow attacking threats Lewis Smith and Tom Wraight among others.

And the Rocks captain says the team is excited about testing their promotion credentials against one of the league’s big hitters – following 3-3 and 2-2 draws with Dulwich last term.

“We are hitting form and are in a really confident mood at the moment,” said Higgins. “We know we are playing one of the favourites for promotion so it will be a good game for the fans to watch, and a hard battle on the pitch too.

“It is a real team effort at the moment and I am really pleased with how everything is going. We are keeping clean sheets and there is a good balance in the team. The defensive unit is really strong and we know we are always capable of scoring goals so we see no reason why we can’t do really well this season.

“In past seasons we have needed three or four goals to win a game but we don’t have that this time. We are more resilient defensively and that is important if we want to challenge near the top.

“The pitch was rock hard on Tuesday but we did what we needed to do to get the result. We know Dulwich like to play so maybe the pitch will act as a bit of a leveller.”

Higgins has missed 15 games through injury this season, but has still racked up 23 goals in 22 appearances so far.

And the striker says his main goal is staying fit in the second-half of the season.

“I have struggled with injuries and have missed a large chunk of the season so far and that is frustrating,” he said. “I want to do all I can to help the team. We know what we want to achieve this year and we need each other if we want to go on and do that.”