CHEZ Isaac is confident that Braintree Town are better equipped to deal with tough games in the Vanarama National League now than they were earlier in the season.

The 24-year-old midfielder was one of just three regulars from last year’s squad who stayed with the club into this year and said he always knew this season would be a testing one because of the changes.

Braintree have been battling to get clear of the relegation zone through much of the first half of the season, but Isaac feels they are well-placed to do that now under boss Hakan Hayrettin.

Braintree head to Dagenham and Redbridge tomorrow (kick-off 7.45pm) for the second part of their festive double-header against the Daggers knowing that they had the better of their opponents on Boxing Day - when the Iron won 3-2 at the Ironmongery Direct Stadium.

“I think we’re now getting the consistency that we need,” said Isaac.

“I always said it was going to be tough this year because of all the players coming in over the summer, but we have a good squad here now with a good spine to the team.

“And we seem to be firing a bit more now than we perhaps were earlier in the season.

“Everyone knows each other better now and I think it’s gelled for us so it’s looking good for the future.

“You are seeing that in games that are tight where we may have gone down earlier in the season and lost the game but now we are showing a resilience and putting chances away when they come our way.

“I think it’s looking good.

“We will take each game as it comes and any game we play we have to be looking to win but if you want to set targets, then it would be nice to be clear of the bottom four going into January.

“I think going beyond that, we need to be making sure that we don’t concede as many goals as we have at times.

“Individual mistakes have cost us and we’ve allowed some teams to score easy goals against us, but we have to cut that out.

“That’s an initial target and we can get ourselves well and truly clear of the drop zone.”