Boss Alan Dunne reckons Tonbridge deserve much more credit than they are getting for this season’s performances.

Angels made it back-to-back 1-0 wins with a hard-fought home victory over Hemel Hempstead last weekend.

While Tonbridge find themselves in the National League South play-off spots in sixth, Dunne claimed the Longmead club’s budget is much closer to those at the bottom than it is to the sides they’re presently competing against towards the top.

Dunne said: “Both of the last two games, they’ve not been the best performances of the season but we have picked up maximum points and got two clean sheets.

“We had played well against Torquay and Ebbsfleet before that and came away with nothing so football can be a funny game.

“We’re massively overachieving. I just need to keep expectations down.

"We’re five points off top - but we’re a team with a bottom-six budget in the top six.

“I think the players deserve massive credit for that and they don’t get enough.”

Dunne, a former Millwall captain in his playing days, replaced Craig Nelson in September 2025. The 44-year-old steered Angels to a 14th-placed finish last term and appears to have built on that.

It’s a challenge to compete with clubs that have much larger budgets, of course, but Dunne pointed out it’s not impossible.

“It’s difficult,” he said. “It’s hard when you lose players through suspension or through injury.

“When you need to plug different places in teams, the size of the squad does matter.

“But it’s not the be-all-and-end-all. Just look at Eastbourne going down last year.

"What we do have is the work ethic and the togetherness, and they’re values that are so important.

“Sometimes, you might not have the quality but the squad as a collective will have that togetherness.”

Forward Bunmi Babajide got Angels’ goal against Hemel while keeper Nathan Harness pulled off a penalty save.

“Your keeper is there to make big saves when you need them to make them, and Nathan can make them,” Dunne said. “But everyone plays their part in a clean sheet.

“I think it’s the same with a clean sheet as it is with a goal where it’s about the team rather than an individual.

“But for a keeper, saving a penalty is like scoring a goal. Arguably, we could have had a penalty, as well - our luck with that doesn’t change - but we gritted through it.

“Nathan didn’t have a lot to do on Saturday but what he had to do he did well.”

Next up is a trip to Chelmsford City this weekend before Tuesday’s home derby against Folkestone Invicta.

While the unbeaten Clarets reportedly have one of the bigger budgets in the division, they have drawn eight games and find themselves in mid-table in 15th.

Dunne said: “They’ve got money and they’re having a go at it. It’s just not come together for them yet.

“It’s another giant for us to come up against and, Chelmsford away, it’s always a difficult place to go but we’ll go there with confidence.

"We have got nothing to lose. We’re one of the best away sides in the league and we’re still yet to be beaten.

“We need to give them respect but, at the same time, we’ve got nothing to fear.”

Tonbridge beat Charlton under-21s 2-1 in the Kent Senior Cup as Miller McDonald and Jephte Tanga found the target on Tuesday.