BRAINTREE Town boss Danny Searle says he is the wrong man to be at the Iron helm if anyone wants him to be preparing for life at a lower level next season.

The Braintree boss insists there is no internal loss of faith in his team's ability to escape the Vanarama National League relegation trapdoor, despite their setback against Aldershot Town last weekend.

The Iron were beaten 1-0 by one of their chief relegation rivals and his team's performance left Searle questioning whether his players had the mindset they needed on the day.

So he is expecting a marked improvement for two more crunch relegation showdowns this week - at Dover Athletic on Saturday and at home against Chesterfield Town on Tuesday (kick-off 7.45pm).

And Searle said they would travel to Kent looking to be positive this weekend.

“We see every game as a chance to get points because we have confidence in ourselves," he said.

“You wouldn’t have necessarily seen that against Aldershot with the way some of them played because confidence looked low.

“That’s possibly what disappointed me the most because they have no reason not to be confident.

“The previous three performances – whether win or lose – had seen us play well but that game against Aldershot has gone now and we have to move on.

“Dover is the next game and three points are the focus.

“There are 36 points to play for – that’s the way it has to be.

“I’m the wrong man to be in charge if it’s anything else and anyone wants us to be planning for next season.

“My planning is for Dover; getting three points there and getting back in amongst it.

“It can only be one game at a time.

“If you sit down and start looking at games with a view to who you think you can get points against then you’ll lose focus.

“It doesn’t matter how many points we get after Dover if we don’t get anything against Dover.

“That’s how we have to build."

While Braintree are still bottom of the National League table and 11 points from safety, Dover are currently occupying the final place just the right side of the relegation divide.

Searle knows it won't be an easy trip to Kent as their hosts will also be battling for their lives, but - the Aldershot game aside - the Iron have been showing encouraging form themselves and the boss says his team are prepared to work hard.

He added: “Dover are a good side who have gone full-time and invested a bit of money.

“Andy Hessenthaler (the Dover manager) has got them organised and they have had some good results so it will not be easy, but, as I said to the boys, if it was easy then everyone would be doing it.

“The situation we are in, there is no such thing as an easy game.

“We have to go for wins and that was the disappointing thing about the Aldershot game was that we didn’t look like we were going for that.

“It was the message in the dressing room – we told them to really go for them.

“But unfortunately it was a bit of a whimper.

“We put enough attacking players on the pitch to cause them problems but I don’t remember their keeper having to make too many saves if any."

Despite his team's under-par display against Aldershot, Searle was thankful for the backing they received from Braintree's fans again and he knows the travelling Iron support will be important to them again on Saturday.

He added: “The fans were great again and even going off the pitch after a defeat like that, they were giving the boys applause and you can’t ask more than that.

“I think they are seeing what we’re trying to do.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t implement a lot of what the idea was against Aldershot.

“Even down to set pieces and stuff we had worked on before, we didn’t even attempt to try and that was disappointing, but we have to stay positive.

“Otherwise, what’s the point?

“If there’s anyone thinking to themselves ‘I’m not sure we’ll get anything today’ then they are definitely not a player for me."