EVESHAM United manager Dave Busst is hopeful his young guns keep their nerve during tomorrow's promotion showdown at Ashford Town (3pm).

The Robins squandered the chance to strengthen their top-two position in Southern League Division One West last Saturday when drawing 1-1 with nearest challengers Yate Town.

Third-placed Yate managed to steal a last-minute equaliser at Common Road to cling on to United's tailcoats with five league games remaining.

Despite taking a first-half lead through Jermaine Clarke and holding off a stern Yate challenge for much of the game, Busst believes a few players got a touch of the jitters.

He is now hopeful his side adopts a more relaxed approach in tomorrow's clash at Ashford's Short Lane.

However, Busst will be without midfielder Marc Burrow and temporary striker John Gayle who are both missing for three and two games respectively due to work commitments.

"It would be nice to get a couple of goals before half-time to settle us down," explains Busst. "We were a little bit nervous in our game with Yate.

"That was because of the importance of the game more than anything. Having experienced players helps us. We've got a lot of youngsters who have not been in this position at this level. I think nerves did get to a few of them.

"Ashford are a strong side and it's going to be more of a battling performance. We just need to be a bit more relaxed."

Busst added: "We did everything right (against Yate). We played well, went 1-0 up and soaked up a lot of pressure. They got lucky with their goal and there was nothing we could do about it.

"We've had a bit of luck in the past. I seem to remember us scoring twice in the last minute in different games. These things even out.

"Obviously, the lads were very disappointed but we know that they did not trouble us. We've got to keep that going for the last five games."