Eastleigh'S Paul Doswell has been named Dr Martens Eastern Division manager-of-the-month for December, but he refuses to hog all the credit himself.

It's shaping into a great debut season for the Sparshatts Stadium side and Doswell insists the praise belongs just as much to ex-Saints pair David Hughes and Mark Dennis - the assistant manager and director of football - and fitness coach Lee Pragnell.

He said: "It's the first time I've ever won manager of the month, but it's not just for me. The load here is spread among the whole coaching staff and we stand and fall together. David and Mark have done a brilliant job and so has Lee. Having someone with Lee's expertise as a fitness coach is a big boost for the club."

To add icing on the celebration cake, Eastleigh have also won December's Safe Hands award for the meanest defensive record in the league.

During December they won all but one of their league games - a 1-1 draw at Stamford, scoring 19 goals in the process while conceding only three.

Yet November had ended in disastrous fashion with league defeats by Salisbury and Burgess Hill plus a 4-1 Trophy disaster at the hands of Histon.

Since then the Stoneham Lane crew haven't looked back and Saturday's 2-1 result at Banbury made it six wins on the spin, keeping them fifth in the table.

"Getting the Safe Hands award makes it a double honour for us and it's nice to get that recognition after the blip we had," said Doswell.

The one low note this week has been their failure to land ex-Saints midfielder Neil Davis on loan from Havant & Waterlooville.

The deal had been set up with Hawks' previous management duo of Mick Jenkins and Liam Daish, who were sacked on Monday, and there will be no movement out of Westleigh Park until a permanent successor is confirmed - probably at the weekend.

"It's a pity," said Doswell. "Neil was supposed to train this week and play at Corby on Saturday. He knows Hughesy from The Dell and was keen to come here."