Joint-boss Ady Gallagher has warned against the dangers of complacency ahead of Lowestoft Town's home clash against basement boys Cray Wanderers.

The Trawlerboys have turned a corner, results wise at least, of late to move up to eighth place in the Ryman Premier Division. And even though the Blues' chief is targeting his side's fourth successive victory this afternoon at Crown Meadow, he insists his men will have to work as hard as ever to earn in.

'When you make changes to a squad, which we have, it takes a little bit of time for things to settle. We've been through a tough time and the boys have shown a lot of unity,' said Gallagher.

'It's not always about the opposition, it's about ourselves. We've got a lot of talented individual players that are now starting to gel together as a really solid side. The lads have been working so hard. It doesn't matter who you are playing against, you have to have that as your starting point.

'On Saturday against AFC Hornchurch (3-0 win), the boys fought for each other and eventually our quality made the difference. Dan Gleeson and Rossi Jarvis were under the weather at the weekend and they rolled up their sleeves and got on with it which was great. The boys are developing into a really tight group and the lads are all very professional.'

Cray have failed to pick up a single point from their seven away league matches this term and look certain to be in a relegation dogfight this season. While Lowestoft – who have tasted defeat in the last three play-off finals – have far loftier ambitions, Gallagher knows Wanderers will provide another stern test.

He said: 'Cray will be fighting for their lives, they're under new management, and they're going to be very, very tough opposition. We have to match them in terms of effort and make sure we remember what's helped us get on a little bit of a run.

'We've played probably eight or nine games against the top 10 or 11 teams so far and we've also had a tough start to the season with a lot of injuries, illness' and availability issues. When we hopefully get two to three players back we'll have a really strong squad so we can try to turn what we have started into a serious run.'

Away from improved on-pitch results, the Blues' hierarchy have been delighted by the increased volume at the Meadow. And Gallagher hopes the club's supporters turn up the noise levels once again come 3pm.

He said: 'It was the most vocal I've heard our crowd in some years on Saturday. In fact, it reminded me of the days in the Ridgeons (Eastern Counties) League, and during some of our great runs in the FA Vase. It's even more important that the crowd is as noisy as they were on Saturday.

'Cray have struggled so far this season, but if the fans come here expecting a result then that's when it's all at its most dangerous. They need to stay patient and show the same level of support as they do against the top teams.'