Canvey Island striker Simon Thomas responds in style to being dropped

Thomas was benched for the recent wins over Wingate and Enfield Town but returned to the starting line-up for Saturday’s 5-2 win at Aveley in the FA Cup, and helped himself to two fine goals in a man-of-the-match performance.

Heale was delighted with the return to form of the 28-year-old former Crystal Palace marksman, who arrived with great expectations when he signed for the Gulls from Chesham in the summer.

“Simon came in and looked really sharp in pre-season, but when the season started he went a bit off the boil,” said Heale.

“So we’ve left him out the last few games and he’s back with a good attitude and done really well.

“He’s starting to win things aerially and the ball is sticking now and he got two good goals here, so he’s back to firing on all cylinders.

“Sometimes players need a little kick up the backside, and that’s what he had, and he’s reacted really well to it.”

Thomas is likely to keep his place against his former side Billericay Town tonight, as they visit Park Lane to play the Ryman Premier fixture which was called off because of the torrential downfall of rain in Essex on Saturday, August 24.

Heale, who chose to substitute Ashley Dumas, Spencer Bellotti and hat-trick man Jay Curran late in the game on Saturday to give them a bit of a rest ahead of tonight’s match, said: “We go into this game full of confidence because in our last six games we have won four, drawn one and lost one.

“We’ve turned the corner and are going in the right direction now after three defeats at the start of the season.

“But Billericay have had a couple of good results against Leiston so it is all set up for a good game.”

Billericay come into the game after back-to-back wins over Leiston in the league and the FA Cup.

It was also Town’s first clean sheet of the season on Saturday and they will be full of confidence after scoring six in their last two outings.