Skipper Karim El-Salahi reckons the fact no-one likes his Sutton United side will only make it harder to win the Ryman Premier League this season.

Boss Paul Doswell’s men crashed 3-2 to two wonder strikes at Margate on Saturday as United lost their seven-match unbeaten record.

Sutton, twice disappointed in the play-offs in successive seasons, remain top of the table after a strong start to the campaign.

And former Eastleigh defender El-Salahi believes the Gander Green Lane outfit are good enough to stay there even if it is only going to get harder.

“I genuinely believe we are the best team in this league, but it is a hard competition made harder by the fact all the other teams - for whatever reason - really don’t like us,” he said.

“I don’t know whether they think we are getting paid loads of money - which we are not - or whether it is because players have played for Sutton previously and it hasn’t really worked out.

“You can hear it in their team talks. They think we are Big Time Charlies, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“We work very hard on the training ground and we are good enough to deal with it, but it is an extra factor that makes it that bit harder.”

Goals from Kennedy Adjei and Bradley Woods-Garness had given Sutton a 2-1 lead in Kent on Saturday, before Margate struck twice from long-range to take the spoils.

Doswell’s men host Billericay Town in the FA Trophy on Saturday as they bid to make up the revenue lost following their early FA Cup exit.

And El-Salahi wants his men to use the match against one of the Premier Division’s form teams to make a statement of intent to their other title challengers.

“We don’t want to lose any game. We’ll be going out there to show Margate was a one off and send out a message to the rest of the league,” he added.

“The manager wants us to go a long way in the competition, to give the fans a bit of excitement and maybe draw a decent team.

“We need to be conscious of the financial rewards as well because we did badly in the FA Cup and we need to make up for it.

“We were on a good run, but you have to be realistic and accept they will not last forever. The objective now is to get back on one and enjoy it.”

Sutton’s next three games: Nov 20 Billericay Town (FAT, h), 23 Harrow Borough (a), 27 Wealdstone (h).