Sam Corcoran says St Albans City can be proud of their change in fortunes over the last month or so – and says Ian Allinson has certainly played his part.

The City captain agreed with his manager when he said the late equaliser by Hemel Hempstead Town on Tuesday night felt like a defeat but feels they can do enough to stay in the Vanarama National League South.

The draw against Hemel followed a 1-0 win away to another play-off chasing side in Maidenhead United.

And it means that City have won six and drawn one of the last nine games, enough to lift them out of the relegation zone for the first time since December.

Corcoran said: “If we’d talked before the weekend and we said four points from the two away games, we would have snatched someone’s hand off.

“But it does feel like a defeat if I’m honest. The way we conceded wasn’t good, especially on my behalf for the first.

“But I think we can be proud. It’s the first time we’ve been out of the relegation zone for a long time.”

He says the character in the squad is such that the disappointment of Tuesday night will soon be forgotten.

“You could see we were all upset,” he said. “But when you see the table and we’re out of the relegation zone, that says to us that we’ve done well. The form table has us in second.

“It’s scary how well we’ve done over 10, 11 games and yet we’re still where we are.

“I think we can take a lot of pride and a lot of heart from it and take that into Saturday’s game with Havant.”

He says thanks for the upturn in results and performances can be laid at the door of the new gaffer.

And Corcoran admits he hasn’t re-invented the wheel.

He said: “It’s similar players but he’s got us playing so we’re hard to beat.

“I’ve found that we’re working harder and I don’t think, personally, that we’re good enough on the ball or technically to not work harder than the other team.

“If we do work harder, we know we’ll get something from the game. That’s the main thing; the motivation and what he gets out of us in hard work.”

Corcoran took over the captaincy a few weeks prior to Allinson’s arrival and it is a responsibility he is relishing.

He said: “It’s the first time I’ve been captain at any club and I’m enjoying it.

“There’s a lot of captains in there though, a lot of leaders. Just because I’ve got the armband it doesn’t mean that I’m the head voice for the team.

“But I’m enjoying taking responsibility and hopefully I can lead us to safety.

“It’s a massive game on Saturday now. If we’d won [against Hemel] we’d have had some leeway but we’ve got to win now. I don’t think a point will be enough now unless we win the last two.

“If we win then that’s us safe I think.”