St Albans City joint manager James Gray believes his players have shown him they have the hunger to remain at Clarence Park next season.

The Saints were lambasted by Gray after their recent defeat at Bishop’s Stortford but the Conference South side have responded with back-to-back wins over Eastbourne Borough and at Gosport Borough on Saturday.

Gray said: “It would have been easy for them to have thrown the towel in but the boys have responded to the rollicking I gave them after the Bishop’s Stortford defeat. They are playing for their careers at St Albans City and know if they under-perform then I will do what I need to do.

“It would have been easy for the season to peter out but it has shown what we can achieve with the right mentality.”

The Saints built on their convincing 3-0 home win over Eastbourne by claiming a 2-1 victory which dented Gosport’s fading play-off hopes.

Gray said: “I’m pretty pleased because it’s been a continuation of our last win over Eastbourne. We were poor against Bishop’s Stortford but we’ve responded with two good victories.

“It’s been evident when we play well we can hold our own against the best sides in the division. We didn’t just beat Gosport Borough. We beat them convincingly.

“Too many times this season we have played within ourselves but the last two games have been encouraging for us and shown the boys do care.”

The Saints are currently 14th and the highest they can finish is 11th with two games remaining. Gray believes his side have under-achieved this season and should be higher up in the standings.

He said: “We set them targets and we are not going to finish in the top ten. We feel that we have a better squad than we have shown. We have under-performed this season but the last two wins were pleasing.”

Former Chesham United striker Simon Thomas has impressed since joining the club last month. Thomas fired the Saints in front on Saturday and Gray praised his contribution for the club.

The manager said: “Simon has scored a few goals for us and added a massive amount to us with his aerial ability and height. He’s given us a different dimension and we didn’t have a Plan B but now we do.”

Stevenage loanee Jo N’Guessan also scored for the Saints and their manager believes his last two performances have been up to the standards he expected from the winger.

Gray said: “He had a great match behind closed doors against Dunstable but in the next games we didn’t see enough of him. But when he came on against Eastbourne he was a real bright spark. I thought he controlled the game and he was a real threat.”

St Albans play their final home game this season on Saturday when they host Ebbsfleet United and the Saints are determined to end the campaign on a high.

Gray said: “Everyone knows about the finances of Ebbsfleet and we’d love to have their resources but they haven’t done that well. We just need to put in another good performance so the fans can remember them and come back again next season. We know Ebbsfleet are one of the better sides in the division but we are in a good situation at the moment.”

The club’s player of the season will be announced immediately after this Saturday’s game on the pitch.

The Saints Bar will then host the other awards at 6.15pm. The goal of the season, the Wagstaffe Simmons award and the players’ player of the season will all be revealed.

Real ale will be available on the day for £2 per pint and free pizzas will also be available in the Saints Bar after the game.