EASTLEIGH boss Richard Hill took no comfort from Bromley’s result in the wake of Saturday’s slip-up at Concord Rovers.

While the promotion-pushing Spitfires crashed 3-2 on Canvey Island, table-topping Bromley were enduring a similarly miserable afternoon at Chelmsford City where they went down 3-1.

But even though the Kent leaders are currently on the crest of a slump, having picked up just four points from their last five games, that comes as scant consolation to Hill whose second-placed side have failed to capitalise, having dropped five points out of the last six.

“Hearing that Bromley lost didn’t make me feel any better, in fact it made me feel even worse because it was an opportunity missed,” he confessed.

“And we’re having to look over our shoulders now because Sutton are coming strong in third.”

Sutton, managed by ex-Eastleigh boss Paul Doswell, have yet to lose a league match in 2014 having strung together seven wins and two draws since the turn of the year.

Their ominous presence on the tails of the front two will have surprised many who thought it was a two-horse title race between Bromley and Eastleigh – but not the cautious Hill.

“I’ve never believed it was a two-horse race,” he said. “We were the team who came from nowhere to make the play-offs last season and it happens every year.

“Sutton are in a rich vein of form and you have to be mindful of what’s behind you, but we’ve got lots of games left to put this right.

“I’m not blaming the players or the referee for what happened on Saturday. If anything I’m blaming myself for not going 4-4-1 when we went 2-1 up,” added Hill, who lost Reece Connolly to a straight red.

Eastleigh have two home matches this week – against Bromley’s conquerors Chelmsford tonight (7.45) and Bishops Stortford on Saturday. Bromley, meanwhile, host Dover this evening and travel to Farnborough at the weekend.

Spitfires play-maker Jai Reason sits out the second of a two-match ban tonight.