DARTFORD boss Tony Burman says he cannot fault his players for their efforts this season despite some heavy defeats against Football League opposition.

The Darts shipped five goals in games against Gillingham and Millwall before claiming a creditable 1-1 draw with League Two new boys Crawley at Princes Park on Saturday.

Lee Burns came off the bench to put Dartford in front after the break but the visitors drew level with a penalty from Willie Gibson.

Burman was happy to see his defence plug the holes against Crawley and is looking forward to welcoming back some key players this week.

He said: “The squad came back in good shape on July 5 to be fair.

“Crawley were a team nearer to us in terms of standard and although the players have had a very tough three weeks, they did OK on Saturday.

“We took the lead but gave away a penalty for their equaliser.

“Defenders are making the wrong decisions at the minute but I would much rather they got most of those out of the way now rather than when the season starts.

“I can’t stress enough how tough the games have been for us, but we’ve got a couple of lads with injuries coming back now and that will give us something extra.”