St Albans City joint manager James Gray believes their performance against Basingstoke Town proved they can match anyone in the Conference South.

The Saints dominated large spells of their game against fourth-placed Basingstoke but an exceptional performance from visiting goalkeeper Stuart Moore ensured the game finished 1-1 at Clarence Park on Saturday.

Gray insists his side can hold their own against the best in the division but believes the players need to improve their consistency to challenge at the top over the course of the whole season.

Gray, whose side are 12th in the league, said: “We’ve taken four points off Basingstoke this season and four points off third-placed Havant & Waterloovile. On our day, and I think other managers will say this about us, we can match any side in this league.

“We need to do that more regularly going into next season. We need to get runs going where we’re six, seven or eight games unbeaten which has not happened this season. All these are things that we're learning.”

He added: “There’s no two ways about it that we will get better. We work too hard as a club for it not to get better. The future looks bright especially on the pitch. I think we've got some good young talent here.

“We’ll try to bring better players into the group for next season and try to kick on and progress. We’re a progressive club and that’s what we’re going to try and do.”

City were much the better side in the opening half and deservedly opened the scoring, after 13 minutes, when John Frendo cut the ball back for Sam Corcoran. His strike was parried by Moore but the midfielder followed up to fire in the rebound.

Moore kept his side in the game with a series of crucial saves from Corcoran and Frendo as the Saints pushed for a second goal.

City’s failure to extend their lead proved costly five minutes after the break when Manny Williams volleyed in the equaliser.

It extended the Saints’ winless run to four games but Gray took plenty of encouragement from his side’s performance.

The City manager said: “I still thought we were the dominant side in the game. How we’ve not won the game I’m scratching my head now? I just cannot believe with the amount of chances we created and how we played that we haven't come off with three points.

“But that’s Conference South football. If you don’t take your chances then other teams are always going to come back at you and that proved in the second half. As one sided as it was in the first half, when we should have been two or three up and that would have wrapped up the points, the second half was more of an even contest but we still matched them. We went toe to toe and probably had the better of the chances again.

He added: “Playing at home we had to be a bit more adventurous. I thought we were really expansive and lively. Every player put in a good shift and some of the football we played was free-flowing. Everyone had good touches and there were some immense performances out there.

“The whole squad has come up trumps and it's just unfortunate we didn't get the three points which I think we fully deserved.”

The Saints face a difficult trip to fifth-placed Whitehawk this weekend but the manager feels his side can play without pressure with no promotion expectations on them.

Gray said: “It doesn't get any easier does it? It’s a bit of a trek down there but we'll look forward to it. We can mix it with any side in this league. The pressure for me now feels like it’s come off us.

“I think Whitehawk are probably the best side I’ve seen at Clarence Park this season. The pressure is off us now. We're going to consolidate and we have new targets to end the season.”

There is a St Albans City team and supporters coach going to Whitehawk for the Conference South game this Saturday.

The coach will depart at 10.30am from the Clarence Park entrance to the ground. Since the coach has a limited number of seats available, anyone going should book as early as possible. To reserve £15 seats, call Ian Rogers on 07714 145862.