Former Woking boss Garry Hill is looking forward to being reunited with Cards fans when he returns with Ebbsfleet on Saturday to take on the National League leaders.
Hill, pictured, managed the Cards for six-and-a-half years and is confident of a warm reception after leading them to promotion in 2012 and keeping them up in his final match in charge.
The former Dagenham & Redbridge and Weymouth boss will be in the dugout for the first time since being let go in May 2017 when he seeks to trump the Cards.
He told Kent Online on Thursday: “I’ve got a very good relationship with the supporters in every way or form. I had some great years at Woking but it’s the same whoever you’re playing against, you want to get three points.
“I don’t say to myself ‘because I’m going back there I want to hurt them’ because my relationship with the Woking supporters is second to none. I’m sure I’ll be received by the supporters and my respect to the supporters at Woking Football Club will be first.”
Hill’s side are second from bottom and four points from safety with only Chesterfield below them so he knows the size of his task after Woking held on to top spot last weekend with a televised draw at Hartlepool.
He said: “Woking are having a tremendous season and it’ll be another tough game. People can say it’s only one win in nine [for us] but I look at it the other way. It’s four results out of the last five games.
“It’s not easy when you’re battling against strong teams in this league and you’re low on confidence but I’ve seen the response and the reaction which was needed from the display here against Aldershot.
“We look at Saturday [1-1 draw with Eastleigh] a little bit frustrated because I felt it was two points dropped but that’s how football is when things are not quite going right. If someone offered me four results out of the next five, I’d take them straight away.
“We could easily have taken four points out of six from the last two games but the pleasing factor is that it’s two more results and we have to keep pushing on.”
Early indications suggest there isn’t a big gulf in class between the teams at the top and the bottom.
Hill added: “I look at the games so far this season and there’s been situations where we haven’t helped ourselves in respect of the manner of the goals we’ve conceded. But the only team who thoroughly deserved to beat us out of sight were Bromley. In the other games, we’ve caused our own problems.
“I’m trying to look at the positive side of things. This is a position I’m not used to being in and a position the players aren’t used to being in. Even though the league table doesn’t look strong, we’re only nine games into the season and we’ve only lost one of the last five.”
