AS he celebrates his 50th game at the Witham Town helm, manager Adam Flint wants his players to show just how much they want to be a part of his plans.

Flint agreed a new deal with the club last week to remain as boss for the 2017/18 campaign and is busy formulating his plans to make sure Witham are challenging in the Ryman League division north play-offs next season.

They head to VCD Athletic in the league tomorrow when they will be looking to respond to a disappointing 5-1 defeat by AFC Hornchurch last weekend.

It will mark a half-century of games in charge for Flint and his coaching team of James Robinson and Curtis Whyte and he wants his players to demonstrate how much they want to be with the club.

Flint said: "It's a lovely pitch at VCD and one that I think will suit us, but I want to see a reaction.

"We've done that before when we've had a disappointing result and we've come back positively like against Dereham after the Heybridge defeat and against Bowers and Pitsea after losing at Norwich.

"I don't want to see the disappointing side of us and we have to learn.

"VCD are a good side on paper so we have to go there and be confident.

"Last year when I came in with nine games of the season to go, I said to the players that if they wanted to be part of our plans now and make sure they weren't on the outside looking in, then they needed to show me that.

"And I've said the same thing to them now.

"We want to be in the play-offs next year and if they want to be a part of that, then they need to show me that right now.

"I don't want the season to peter out and I'm looking for a good reaction at VCD, which will hopefully be a nice way to celebrate my 50th game in charge."

Ryan Charles is expected to be back available for the trip to VCD Athletic after missing last weekend with a hip flexor injury, but Kofi Gyebi is still out with a groin problem.

Meanwhile, Flint said he had received a number of approaches for players in recent weeks, with the latest coming in this week.

However, he is confident that members of his squad want to remain at Witham and feels they appreciate what he and is management team are trying to build at the club.

"We've had another seven-dayer for one of the lads," added Flint.

"We've had a few now because of how we've done, but I don't think it's disrupting us.

"The lads say that they are enjoying their football and they want to stay as they know we are looking to build something.

"That shows that we are doing the right things and we want to keep people together."

"We should be competing with these teams and we should win.

"But sometimes we can be brilliant - like against Bowers and Pitsea - and sometimes we just aren't.

"We have looked at it and just aren't sure why that is the case.

"Bowers and Maldon & Tiptree have both said that we are the best side they have faced, but then we have results like the one against Hornchurch last weekend.

"We were Jekyll and Hyde again.

"To be fair to Hornchurch, they never gave us an opportunity, but looking back at the goals, we were very sloppy.

"Maybe it was a game too far for us as we had played four of the top six in the last few weeks when we had put in a lot of effort and we looked a bit off it in this one.

"They were games against teams who are all up there and we just came up short against Hornchurch.

"The end scoreline was a bit unfair, though.

"We went three at the back to try and go for it because we felt at 3-1 down another goal would put us right back in it, but they took advantage of that and got the other two goals, which killed us off really.