Manager Glen Driver is delighted to see his young Braintree Town squad are showing the hunger for Vanarama National League South fight that he hoped to see.

Braintree head to Chippenham Town on Saturday and then Concord Rangers on Tuesday on the back of a rousing 3-2 home win against Dorking Wanderers on Bank Holiday Monday.

Femi Akinwande’s last-gasp goal earned Braintree the win on a roasting hot afternoon and showed how their players are prepared to battle for every point this year.

They are a group that has been brought together on a tight budget by Driver since he took over as manager in June and he is pleased to see how they are rising to the challenges ahead of them.

He said: “In my opinion, we gave footballing lessons to St Albans and Eastbourne when we played them, then we should have been out of sight at half-time at Dartford and against Dorking, I felt we proved we could compete against a side full of players who could be playing at a higher level.

“It’s not the size of you budget, it’s how you spend it.

“I’ll turn the question around and ask: who looked the hungrier on Monday?

“Was it Femi Akinwande or was it one of their guys?

“If you have the hunger and desire then you will go a long way and Femi has that for us.

“But he’s not alone.

“There’s players like Ade Cole, Alfie Cerulli, Jayden Gipson, Charley Barker, the list goes on; our keeper (Michael Johnson) is only 25 and he’s showing he has a fantastic future.

“We are a young side and we are still trying to piece it together.

“We are short in one or two areas but as long as we can keep the boys hungry and level headed then I think we’ll be in for a good season.”

Meanwhile, Driver said a couple of members of his squad would be spending spells away from the club.

With no Braintree reserve side this year, he said he had no other option to get time on the pitch for players who had not been featuring for the first team so had a couple heading out on loan.

Trey Charles has gone to Cheshunt on loan and Kyron Clements has been dual registered with Driver’s former club, Leiston.