Steve Newing believes Enfield Town are still involved in a five-way battle for the Ryman Division One North title.

The Towners boss saw his side finish January unbeaten in the league after they came from behind to beat visitors Great Wakering Rovers 2-1 on Saturday.

Enfield have taken 13 points from a possible 15 in their last five games, keeping them in touch with leaders Leiston and maintaining the gap back to the next group of chasing sides.

Newing’s side now head Needham Market by seven points, Harlow Town by ten and Grays Athletic and Tilbury by 11.

Despite the cushion to the sides behind them though, the manager is not counting anyone out of the title race just yet.

“If Harlow win their game in hand they will be up there with Needham Market,” he explained.

“You would say that ourselves and Leiston are in good positions however, Needham Market will be buoyed by the return of their top scorer.

“I wouldn’t write Harlow off yet, and I wouldn’t write Grays off yet either.”

He continued: “From fourth to 12th, any of those teams will think they have got a chance of getting a playoff spot.

“I would imagine there are teams looking at it thinking it is Leiston’s and Enfield’s to throw away but I don’t look at it like that. Football is a funny old game.”

The Great Wakering result was the ideal start to a run of games where Newing is targeting a big points haul.

With Enfield playing all four of the other top five sides in their final six games of the campaign, the manager has called for his players to claim as many points as possible before that tricky run in.

Many would look at that schedule with an element of worry, but Newing stressed that good form ahead of that would see them in a good position.

“It wouldn’t be a bad thing (the last six fixtures), if we can accumulate points over the next few games.”

On the fixtures immediately ahead, he continued: “It gives us an opportunity to go on and pick up some points if league form and positions are anything to go by.”

It was a nightmare start for Town at the weekend as Rovers took the lead inside the first minute before the fight back began.

Walid Matata levelled after the break before an own goal from Nathan Fletcher five mintues from time gave the hosts another win at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium.

Despite the three points though, Newing felt his side were not on top of their game.

He explained: “We weren’t anywhere near our best to be fair, but sometimes that happens and we eventually got there in the end.

“Performances do matter but at the end of the day it is points that count. Great Wakering have been a bogey side for me at home so it was good to get that off my back.”

He continued: “When we equalised I thought we would go on and win the game but it took until five minutes from time to do it. When it went in it was a relief to everybody.

“At the end of the day, to say we got out of jail is probably not right as we did do enough to win the game, but we should do better than that.”

With 14 games to go Newing believes his side are strong enough to maintain their title challenge but revealed he is looking to add to his squad.

The manager has put in a seven-day approach to speak to an attacking player and was hopeful he would be able to persuade him to join the Towners.

Saturday sees Enfield back in front of the home faithful as they welcome mid-table Chatham Town.

The previous meeting between the sides saw Newing’s men claim a 3-2 win but the manager is hoping for a more comfortable afternoon this time round.

“We had a difficult game down there and were rather fortunate to come away with a win,” said the manager.

“We will need to apply ourselves better. If we play well, we have got to look to take three more points.”