MAGPIES’ left-back Neil Martin has credited manager Steve Thompson with Dorchester Town’s upturn in form since the beginning of the season.

Under previous boss Craig Laird, Dorchester lost four of their first five league games of the season, conceding 14 goals in the process.

But since Thompson’s arrival, the Magpies have taken 30 points from 23 league games as they bid to break into the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division’s mid-table.

And Martin, 28, told Echosport that Thompson has “got the best” out of Dorchester’s squad since his tenure began.

He said: “I think the manager has got the squad together and he’s got us playing the way it seems is the best. He likes to play a pressing game which is hard at times, but the loan players train full-time.

“The younger lads that have signed for Dorchester, they should be fit enough to play a high pressing game.

“At the start of the season, Lairdy was trying to play football in the right way but I don’t think it suited us. He was trying to give too much information at once and it was always going wrong.

“With Tommo he looked at our best assets and where we were strong. He’s got the best out of us and the fans are starting to see that.

“Each training session we are progressing and it’s taking small steps at a time, but we were trying to take big steps and then couldn’t handle it.”

Martin, who made his 300th club appearance in the 3-0 loss at King’s Lynn on Saturday, felt the improvement was visible against the Linnets, having “matched them” in the second-half.

He said: “We lost 3-0 but we weren’t a million miles away. In the second-half we matched them and had more chances than them, it’s just small margins.

“With training and playing together more it’s going to get better.”

And Martin, who has competition for his place with fellow left-back Chris Clarke, welcomed scrapping for a first-team berth to avoid complacency.

“As a player you always want competition for places, it makes you play better yourself and perform better because you want to stay in the team.

“Whether you’re my age or younger you want to be playing week in, week out. That’s important to have in the team because people get complacent and think they’re going to play every week,” he said.