BRAINTREE Town manager Hakan Hayrettin admitted that the advice of his coaching team played a crucial role in the Iron taking a big step towards Vanarama National League survival in their 2-0 win against Southport.

The Iron will be looking to take an even greater stride towards safety tonight as they host Woking at the Ironmongery Direct Stadium (kick-off 7.45pm) when they will be hoping for another win against another side battling to avoid the drop.

Hayrettin was pleased to see his team step up to beat Southport on Saturday as two Sam Corne goals sealed victory and he revealed that it was on advice from his coaching staff that the 20-year-old was included in the starting line-up.

In the last eight games that Corne has been involved in - either starting or coming on from the bench - Braintree have taken 17 points from a possible 24 and it was his goal threat that persuaded Hayrettin to start him against Southport.

So he was delighted to see the former Welling midfielder respond with two goals.

"Look at the majority of games that Sam has played in and we have hardly lost," said the Iron boss.

"I put him in the team on Saturday as all three members of my coaching team said to me to play Sam Corne rather than Harry Lee because we had Chez (Isaac) back in the team.

"They said to get him back in the team and trust is a vital factor of any environment that you are in.

"I trust my staff and they swayed me to play Sam Corne, which was the right decision.

"He took his goals really well.

"It was all about getting the balance right in midfield and we had good players on the bench in Harry Lee and Kyron (Farrell), but we decided to go with Sam because - and it turned out to be the case - as he's the one who can get us goals from midfield.

"He stepped up to the mark with two great goals; one from inside the box and one from outside.

"Hopefully he can now continue."

Apart from the three points his team picked up, Hayrettin was also pleased to see his players learn from their previous game at Solihull Moors, where a three-goal lead was surrendered as the Iron saw their hosts come back to snatch a late point.

"Lessons were learned," added Hayrettin.

"We identified that we need to step up a bit earlier and close areas and make it more compact.

"We have more time to get the ball down and we don't need to panic.

"It was much better against Southport.

"It is all about finishing strongly now and making sure we do the right things.

"No-one will give us the points so we have to work for them and it won't be over until it is over.

"You have to keep swinging until you come out the other end when you're in a street fight.

"The boys have been giving me that a lot more times than not so I hope it continues."