Eastleigh manager Ian Baird told his players some home truths before Saturday’s Blue Square Bet South game against Dartford.

With a healthy crowd of 727 in the Silverlake Stadium, the Spitfires couldn’t afford to let a minor blip of two straight league defeats develop into a full-scale slump in front of their own fans.

Ex-Saint Baird can be pretty blunt at times, but his players invariably appreciate his honesty.

And they repaid him with a handsome 3-0 victory courtesy of Richard Graham, a Paul Goodacre own goal and Anthony Riviere, leaving them seventh in the table.

While losing 1-0 at high-flying Braintree Town last month was forgivable, Eastleigh’s previous home performance against Basingstoke Town (another 1-0 defeat) most certainly wasn’t and Baird left his players in no doubt that they had to perform against Dartford.

“I was very blunt and told them I felt we were massively underachieving,” he said.

“This set of players is far and away the best group I’ve had since I’ve been at Eastleigh, but I’ve been disappointed with some of their sloppiness and their attitude towards winning games.

“I pointed out what our objective is – and that’s to get into the play-offs - and I said we’d been downright sloppy at times, which was unacceptable.

“They took it on board and, as always with this group, the reaction was superb.”

Full story in today's Daily Echo.