Gordon Bartlett admits by most people’s standards Wealdstone have had a poor season but remains confident a top-half finish in National League South is possible.

The Stones eased their relegation fears on Monday evening with a 3-0 win over Hayes & Yeading United at The Vale which moved them seven points clear of the relegation zone.

An own-goal from former Birmingham City defender Darren Purse, plus strikes from Scott Davies and Matty Harriott, sealed the win.

Sat in 13th place, Wealdstone are only three points away from the top half. They would be there already were it not for games against Oxford City, Truro City and Gosport Borough in which they blew leads to draw late on.

The Stones have lost just one of their last 14 in the league and Bartlett believes they can finish in the top half.

He said: "I feel we need another couple of wins before we can relax.

"People are talking about avoiding relegation but I've not spoken about that all season.

"My target has always been finishing higher than last year and that is all I've spoken about.

"If we win against Oxford City we go two points behind them and they're seventh.

"People have looked at the negatives but I try all the time to look for the positives.

"We had that run of games where we kept conceding late goals," continued Bartlett. "Without that we would be higher.

"With three more wins from those home games that would put us on the edge of the play-offs already.

"We've had a poor season – I think most people would say that. But we're not very far away from making it a good one."

Dale Binns was man-of-the-match on Monday evening as Wealdstone put Hayes to the sword. But midfield maestro Davies made the first and scored the second to make it three for the season.

Bartlett expects more from the former Reading and Crawley Town midfielder, though.

"Scott Davies has got the ability to be scoring 15 goals per season," explained Bartlett.

"So seeing him start to score recently is good but it’s only what I think he should be doing from the off – and that's praise as well as criticism.

"He's well and truly capable but at times, maybe, he's looking for the spectacular."

Wealdstone continued their impressive form against the division's high-flyers on Saturday with a 2-2 draw against second-placed Maidstone United.

Goals from Harriott and Johnny Wright secured a point for the hosts who included West Ham United loanee Nathan Mavila on the bench.

The winger, who made eight appearances on loan at Wealdstone last term, has been joined on loan at The Vale by Swansea City striker James Demetriou.