Sutton & Epsom skipper Steven Munford reckons his squad is 100 per cent confident of National League Three London survival.

The 20-year-old scrum-half, fully fit from a recent foot injury, played his part in an encouraging performance on Saturday that saw his side come within two points of earning a losing bonus point against third-placed Bracknell.

Munford’s men, currently bottom of the table, have gone through a recent revival claiming nine points from their last five games, having secured just three from their previous seven encounters.

Head coach Terry O’Connor has blooded a host of youngsters this term, at the same time persuading veteran fly-half Sam Frost out of retirement.

And the Rugby Lane captain, who leads his side at fellow strugglers Portsmouth this weekend, insists they are good enough to beat the drop.

“It is a massive game for us. We simply have got to win it to give ourselves a chance,” he said.

“These sort of games tend to be fairly scrappy, but I don’t care how we win as long as we come away with maximum points.

“It would take us off the bottom, which would give us a huge boost going into the rest of the season.

“A lot of the boys here have played rugby together for a long time and we are 100 per cent confident we can stay in this league.”

Sutton, still missing long-term injury victims James Clarke and Scott Wallbank, held Bracknell 10-10 at half-time thanks to Andy Nicholl’s interception try.

And although the visitors ran-up 24 points in the second-half to win comfortably, Nicholl’s second score of the afternoon and one for lock Richard Nicholls proved the hosts have the stomach for a battle.

“It was disappointing not to get anything out of the game. We played some really good stuff at times,” added Munford.

“We are still struggling away from home which we have to put right, but we have shown we can give anyone a game on our own ground.

“They are all tough games from here on.”

Sutton’s next three games: Dec 5 Portsmouth (a), 12 Basingstoke (a), 20 Jersey (h).