Dave Garland is confident Croydon Athletic will escape relegation - so long as they don't fall too far behind before Christmas.

The Rams are bottom of the Ryman Premier League table following defeats at Wealdstone, 4-3 last Tuesday, and Hendon, 4-1on Saturday, which extended their winless run to 12 games since Garland and Bob Langford took over as caretaker managers in September.

Despite the long run without a victory, Croydon are only three points from safety and Garland firmly believes survival is a distinct possibility.

"I just feel if can stay in touch and hang on until Christmas we will be alright," he said.

"We are positive in that as we can only get better.

"If we are not too far away by Christmas, which I don't think we will be, we will be fine.

"We are only two wins from being fifth or sixth from bottom."

Garland included new loan signing, 18-year-old Fulham midfielder Courtney Harris, against Hendon and saw his side draw level through Dan Moody after an early goal against before The Greens ran away with it after the break.

"I don't think the win is far away," said Garland.

"All the teams say we are better than they expect but it's easy to say that.

"We did match Hendon but the bits at both ends that really matter are the bits we make mistakes at - the bits in between are ok.

"It is in front of goal and at the back when we are under pressure that is the problem.

"It is always the case when you are bottom that every mistake you make you get punished for.

"It's a learning curve for the boys and the back four though, they have an average age of only about 19."

The Rams face 12th-placed Margate, who beat leaders Sutton United 3-2 on Saturday, at home tomorrow night and then travel to sixth-from-bottom Harrow Borough on Saturday.

"We thought Margate might be a game we could win and then they went and got that result against Sutton," said Garland.

"There's no easy games in this league though so we will see."

Rams' next three fixtures: Tomorrow Margate (h), Nov 20 Harrow Borough (a), 24 Aveley (h).