Chairman Derry Edgar says there is a quiet confidence Kings Langley will retain their Southern League Premier Division status.

The Gaywood Park club have been involved in a relegation battle throughout the campaign as they look to establish themselves in the division after three successive promotions.

After Paul Hobbs took over as manager in November, a run of positive results over Christmas and into the New Year helped Kings build a gap over the drop zone, which currently sits at eight points.

Back-to-back defeats have stifled the club’s progress somewhat but Edgar says the belief Kings will survive is growing, despite adding a caveat of caution.

“Putting together a couple of wins does give you that confidence that you can pick up the wins against anyone really,” Edgar said.

“The theme running through the whole season has been to consolidate and there has been a certain amount of pressure to be able to achieve that.

“The bottom four go down in this league, so if you are in the bottom half you are always under that sort of pressure.

“Paul has come in and given us some real hope that we can achieve the goal of consolidation. There is a quiet confidence, but one that’s tinged with caution.”

The departure of management duo Ritchie Hanlon and Paul Hughes along with a host of first-team players, which Edgar described as a trauma for the club, had threatened to derail Kings’ campaign.

Since then the club has moved to bring in new faces to bolster a squad which has absorbed the loss of such instrumental figures in impressive fashion.

As is always the case with a club of Kings’ size, budgetary concerns have the final say when it comes to recruitment.

Edgar accepts competing with some of the league’s bigger clubs has been a challenge in this regard, but feels Kings’ approach has yielded positive results.

“We have brought people in for the players who left and they have done well for us. Young Jerry Amoo and Mayo Balogun are quality lads,” he said.

“The finances are always a challenge. We can’t offer people fortunes like some teams can and are always vulnerable to losing people.

“We have to try to look for the undiscovered nugget and be attractive to lads playing locally. There are a lot of good teams and leagues in the area.

“It is not for us to be bringing in too many mercenaries or journeymen. That just isn’t the right strategy for us.”

Edgar’s ambition for Kings lies far beyond consolidation at their current level and the long-term hope is for the club to continue its growth.

Again finances will play a role in allowing this to happen, and Edgar is also acutely aware of the need to increase the public’s awareness of the club. With this in mind, a deal has been struck for Watford Ladies to play their home games at Gaywood Park.

He said: “We have tied up with Watford Ladies, which isn’t so much about finances, it is more about increasing the profile of the club.

“Of course it will also increase our revenue streams because we will be catering for some fairly sizeable crowds. We want to increase the revenue stream on multiple fronts.

“Improving the profile of the club brings with it greater commercial interest and again that can only help take us forward.”

Perhaps the clearest indication yet of the stability Hobbs has brought to Kings came against Hayes & Yeading United at the start of the month.

Hughes and Hanlon left Kings to take over Hayes, but were unable to overcome their former employers in a 1-0 defeat on their first return to Gaywood Park.

Edgar was at pains to stress the pair’s legacy remains untouched, even if the victory did prove to be particularly enjoyable.

“Nothing can take away from what they did for the club, they did brilliantly, but sport is about healthy rivalry and it had all the ingredients,” Edgar said.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t sweeter to win against them and it certainly was. That is just human emotion.

“It was a battling performance which got us over the line and we probably rode our luck a bit, but that showed the spirit Paul has engendered in the squad over a short period.”