FC CLACTON boss Kieron Shelley hopes his side can continue their winning ways at the Rush Green Bowl.

The Seasiders have won four of their last five Thurlow Nunn League premier division matches at home, with the only blemish being a narrow defeat against high-flying Brantham Athletic.

They have also won on their last two outings there, beating Ely City 2-0 and then holding their nerve to see off Wivenhoe Town 4-3 in a thrilling Boxing Day derby.

Clacton return to the Bowl for a date with Gorleston on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).

And Shelley believes that in order to build on their encouraging first-half of the season, his side need to be strong on home soil.

“We do well at home and long may that continue,” he told the Gazette.

“The Bowl is a tough place to come to.

“It’s not the easiest of pitches, as everyone knows, and I don’t think other sides relish coming to our place.

“Hopefully we can carry on with another win, having beaten Wivenhoe on Boxing Day.

“Admittedly, we had a dodgy last 20 minutes and ended up making life hard for ourselves, being pegged back to 4-3 after being 4-1 ahead.

“But aside from that we completely dominated, scored four goals and also showed good character to come back from the disappointment of going behind after 90 seconds.

“We showed real resilience and that pleased me, because all good sides are resilient.

“That mindset also applies when you lose games, because you have to move on and put it to bed as soon as possible. That’s part of the learning curve.”

Shelley has been happy with his side’s form so far this season.

They head into the new year sitting 14th in the table with more points than they gleaned throughout the whole of the 2016/17 campaign.

“Hopefully the positive supporters and people at the club can see the difference and how far we’ve come,” added the Seasiders boss.

“It’s really pleasing that players want to stay here.

“They’re sticking around and want to be part of what we’re doing.

“There’s a respect within the group and such a spirit, meaning they all want to play for and work hard for each other.

“They can see we’re building something and that means a lot to me.

“It means that if we can have a strong second half of the season, they’ll hopefully come back even stronger and hungrier next year.”

Last weekend’s fixture at Stowmarket Town was postponed on Friday, due to a waterlogged pitch, and so was the reserves’ Essex and Suffolk Border League first division match at West Bergholt Reserves.

They are due to host Tiptree Park on Saturday.