SALISBURY boss Nick Holmes says Monday's derby clash confirmed his belief that Eastleigh are the best of the rest behind leaders Yeading in the Ryman Premier.

Although his opposite number Paul Doswell has a sneaking suspicion that Billericay - home to Yeading tomorrow - will pip Johnson Hippolyte's men to the title, Holmes remains convinced that Eastleigh carry a bigger threat going forward than their play-off rivals.

During their seven-match unbeaten run, Salisbury have forced back-to-back goalless draws with second-placed Billericay and fourth-placed Braintree.

But on neither occasion did they survive as many scares as they did in the second half against Eastleigh - even though that, too, ended goalless.

Holmes admitted: "Eastleigh probably caused our defence more problems in the last half-hour on Monday than Billericay and Braintree put together.

"By the end they had Paul Sales, Andy Forbes and Craig McAllister out there and I wondered how many more forwards they were going to put on! It made our '0' look even more impressive."

For all their wealth of frontline talent, Eastleigh head into tomorrow's home game against Chelmsford City on the back of two successive 0-0 draws, having been shut out by Windsor & Eton last Saturday.

To remedy that, Doswell is planning to start with all three strikers tomorrow, switching Christer Warren to left-back and opening up a place for left-winger Alex Haddow who has struggled to impress since his move from Slough Town.

Doswell said: "After two 0-0s everything's tightened up again at the top of the table and the danger is that Leyton (currently sixth) could come into it if they win their game in hand.

"With the strikers we've got, our best bet may be to go all out to outscore the opposition."

Haddow can add to that strike potential having bagged a hat-trick against Eastleigh for Slough earlier this season, but Doswell admitted: "He's been struggling with a chest infection and has taken a bit of a knock too, so he hasn't had much of a chance to shine.

"It's the same with Shaun Dyke, who we'll be resting tomorrow. He's tired mentally and physically, but he'll come good for us. Like they say, form is temporary but class is permanent."

Although 12th-placed Salisbury - away to Cheshunt tomorrow - are not yet mathematically safe from relegation, their run of 15 points from the last available 21 has gone a long way towards ensuring they remain a Premier club next season.

Much of that comes down to a dramatic defensive improvement which has brought six clean sheets from the last seven games.

Tomorrow they will be without one of their rearguard rocks, Mat Jones, who pulled his hamstring against Eastleigh, while on-loan Bashley striker Richard Gillespie has been sidelined with ankle trouble.