St Albans City manager Ian Allinson is seeing plenty of positives in his side after picking up the first two wins of his Clarence Park reign.

A 6-0 drubbing of Whitehawk in the league on Saturday was followed up by a 1-0 win over Hemel Hempstead in the Herts Charity Cup, a victory which takes the Saints through to the final.

And Allinson believes the improvements he is seeing on the training pitch and in games will only help build confidence, vital if City are to avoid relegation from the Vanarama National League South.

Speaking after the Hemel win, Allinson pointed to the reaction after the loss to Bath.

He said: “Bath was a total lapse in where we felt we were going to be. And so it was about going back to the training ground last week where we worked them extremely hard.

“But I just see so many positives in some of the younger lads with their pace and those with experience with their ability on the ball.

“It was really just a case of transferring that onto the pitch.

“I felt that we started strong both on Saturday and tonight and by keeping clean sheets and winning games it breeds confidence.”

Saints have 11 games to retain their status in the sixth tier of English football and second-placed Sutton United arrive at Clarence Park on Saturday, no doubt eager to build on their 5-0 win at Ganders Green Lane in January.

But Allinson thinks back-to-back wins and clean sheets could help his team spring a surprise.

He said: “They’ve earned the right to go into the Sutton game full of confidence and we’ll go in there wanting to win the game.

“And we can go and do that now because the two results will help them believe in themselves.

“We’re a very good side when we can play football like we do at times.

“And with the commitment we have got all over the park now with players wanting to win the ball, get on the ball and make things happen, it’s just about being brave.”

One player that has impressed in the two wins is on-loan Peterborough man, Harry Anderson.

The young winger followed up a starring performance against Whitehawk with his first goal for the club against Hemel.

Allinson said: “By half-time [against Hemel] we could have been three or four up and I felt our first-half performance was very good.

“We looked sharp, we looked bright. We did tire but in Harry Anderson I felt we had an outlet.

“We watched him in training last week. He was very good and his finishing is excellent so when he went through I fancied him to score.

“And he did really well. He sat the keeper down and rolled it into the empty net.

“He had one or two half chances in the second half but it’s a positive that he’s come in and taken to us so well and both him and Jonathan have come in from Peterborough and done great for us.”