MARK Bentley insists Canvey Island cannot become overconfident after their midweek mauling of Witham Town.

The Gulls recorded an eye-catching 7-1 win ahead of tomorrow’s Isthmian North clash with Soham Town Rangers at Park Lane.

But Bentley is not allowing his players to get ahead of themselves.

“We’ve got to stay grounded,” said the Canvey chief, whose side are now just three points adrift of the play-off places.

“Until we start winning five, six or seven games on the bounce, we can’t get overconfident.

“If we do that, it will come back and bite us on the backside.

“We have got to make sure we do things right.

“But we won’t take Soham lightly because it’s a game on our pitch and we can’t win at home.”

Canvey face Soham, who are sitting 12th in the standings, less than a month after a fiery reverse fixture.

Soham saw Callum Russell and Alfie Connor dismissed in the space of four first half minutes and the Gulls eventually sealed a 3-1 victory.

Canvey have won three of their four fixtures since the turn of the year and Bentley wants his side to be more ruthless.

“When you’re winning games by the odd goal or two, you’re still a little bit cautious,” added Bentley.

“But when you get a fourth goal, it’s comfortable and you tell the boys to go fill their boots.

“We need to punish teams and be ruthless, like we were at Witham.

“You feel for the opposition but it’s all about us and that will be great for our confidence.”