Kenny Brown has told his Tooting & Mitcham squad they must beat whipping boys Horsham this Saturday to get their survival hopes back on track.

The Terrors lost 1-0 at home to Canvey Island on Saturday and remain third bottom of the Ryman Premier League, five points from safety having played a game more.

Horsham, buoyed by the arrival of new manager Simon Colbran, who replaced the sacked Hugo Langton on Wednesday, look certainties for relegation having won just twice this season.

And Terrors manager Kenny Brown admitted, with 12 games of the campaign to go, that it is now do or die for his players.

“We know that we have to win that game,” he said.

“The teams you want to be up against and take points off are the ones around you but we will have to respect Horsham.

“We have to go there and be solid and positive in the way we play and if we do that and play to our potential then I have no worries about getting maximum points.

“Then we play Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, so it is a big two weeks for us.

“If we win two or three games in a row it changes everything and drags a lot of other teams in.

“We were very disappointed to lose on Saturday, it would have been nice to have gone to Horsham on a little run of being undefeated but it was not to be.

“There are 12 games to go and there are still plenty of points to play for but we need to get something out of every game now.

“We know what we are looking at, but it is hard to set a points total.

“Horsham look as if they are going to go along with Aveley and that leaves two spots.

“But Leatherhead are more than capable of getting out and so are we.

“There are teams that could easily get caught up in it but they are also capable of going on a winning run.”

Meanwhile, Andre McCollin has left the club despite only returning from long-term injury in January.

“We needed to free up a little bit of money and a fresh start for him will do him good,” added Brown.