Whyteleafe go into this weekend’s clash of the play-off contenders without the pressure of the past months, says boss John Fowler.

Merstham, fourth in the Ryman Division One South table, are the visitors to Church Road for a 3pm kick-off.

The sides have met twice already this season, with Merstham taking the bragging rights with victories in the league and a Surrey Senior Cup tie.

Leafe, who have spent most of the season inside the play-offs, have fallen to sixth recently on the back of a run of three wins in 10 games.

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However, Fowler believes that dropping out of the pressure cooker of the play-offs may not be such a bad thing.

“Being in the play-offs for so long meant there was a bit of pressure on the lads week in, week out,” he said.

“Now we have something to chase it might put less pressure and them and results will pick up.

“But we’ve told them that no matter what happens, we have had a great season so far, just make sure we don’t take our foot off the pedal too much and finish as high up the table as we can.

“If that means being in the play-offs, great, if it means us missing, then so be it.”

He added: “I think the top four is done and dusted, and it’s out of four or five fighting for fifth place, and we are one of the strongest of them.”

Fowler is also out for a sweet taste of revenge over Merstham, who recently dumped Conference South outfit Sutton United out of the Surrey Senior Cup despite playing the entire second half with only 10 men.

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“We lost twice to Merstham already this season, it would be nice to have a bit of revenge against them,” Fowler said.

“We do raise our game against better sides, so hopefully we can put on a performance and get something out of the game.”

He added: “Tommy Hutchings up front is a danger man, but they have so many options.

"They have a nice squad, they can take people off the bench and they are similar to who they’re replacing on the pitch.

“They are playing with confidence, so we know it is not going to be an easy game.”