DAN Trenkel has declared himself “delighted and surprised” at Great Wakering Rovers’ impressive start to the season.

Rovers have been one of the revelations in the Ryman One North so far this campaign, sitting seventh after losing just one of their opening six games.

They picked up arguably their finest point to date on Monday, as they played out a goalless draw at AFC Hornchurch, who were playing three divisions above Rovers just two years ago.

And Trenkel says Rovers were unlucky not to take all three points away from the team who were in the Conference South in 2013.

“I knew the boys would put a shift in,” he said. “We certainly rode our luck at times, but if you break the game down we have had the best two chances to win the game. Stuart Hepburn should have scored a close range header and Nashy (Jay Nash) had a one on one in the last few minutes.

“It was really nice to get complimentary remarks from Hornchurch’s Colin McBride (chairman) and Jimmy McFarlane (manager) as they are two guys I aspire to after what they’ve done in football.

“The whole team worked so hard for each other and with six missing as well it shows me everyone in our squad is up for the fight.

“Hornchurch are still a Ryman Premier outfit in everything they do, so it’s great we have gone there, with players missing, off the back of a terrible result in the FA Cup, and got a deserved point.”

Rovers have come a long way in a year, as they struggled on their return to the Ryman One North, losing nine and winning just one of their first 11 games.

But it is a different story this year, and Trenkel says no-one will be underestimating Rovers now.

“League-wise I have been delighted and surprised at how we have done,” he said. “We had 11 points after 16 games last season so to be on that total with only six games gone is certainly an improvement.

“I think a lot of teams would look at us and say after five games we were in the wrong position and we can’t be as good as that, but getting a point at Hornchurch might show those people that actually, we are a good side, and we fully deserve to be two points off the top.

“But there is no danger of us getting carried away with a few good results. Safety is paramount to us, and the sooner we can get to a safe points total the better. We can try to kick on after that.”