GRAYS Athletic manager Jamie Stuart has admitted that he is delighted with how much his side have improved since dropping into the Isthmian North.

Stuart’s side suffered relegation from the Isthmian Premier League last term, but have now secured two wins from four league games - with the most recent of those a 4-2 win over Parkside landlords Aveley on Monday.

Goals from Joao Carlos, Kieran Bishop, Glenn Wilson and Kiernan Hughes-Mason allowed Grays to claim all three points, with Michael Osei and Adam Bolle’s goals not being enough for the Millers.

And Stuart has been pleased with his side’s start.

The Grays boss said: “I thought we did enough to beat Waltham Abbey on Saturday (where Grays lost 2-1) but I told the boys to play against Aveley in the same way.

“At the moment we are dominating teams with our possession and we could have won 6-0.

“It was a big game against Aveley. We have a lot of respect for them because of the ground-sharing and they have a decent team and manager.

“If we didn’t allow the midfield runners to break, we wouldn’t have conceded the two goals.”

Aveley went ahead on 20 minutes as Osei beat the offside trap before rounding goalkeeper Lamar Johnson and tapping the ball into an empty net.

But Stuart’s side were to get back on level terms after 36 minutes.

Hughes-Mason played a dangerous ball into the penalty area and although Jack Barry hooked the ball away from the goalmouth, Carlos stormed in to blast the ball home.

The hosts were to take the lead on the stroke of half-time from the penalty spot.

Carlos was brought down in the corner of the penalty area by Osei and Bishop sent stopper Rhys Madden the wrong way to score with the last kick of the first half.

Grays netted a third after the break as Wilson’s looping volley deceived Madden before finding the corner of the net.

With less than 10 minutes to play, Hughes-Mason pounced on a poor backpass before Bolle scored from the spot after a foul by Perry Dunn.

And Stuart admitted that Aveley boss Terry Spillane was complimentary of his side following the final whistle.

“Their manager came over to me and said we are too good for this league,” added Stuart.”

On Friday, Aveley scored two injury-time goals to beat Witham Town.

Trailing after 90 minutes, Jack West and Jordan Watson secured a dramatic win.