THURROCK boss Greg Lincoln has said good riddance to Cliff Akurang, claiming the club is better off without him.

The striker left Fleet and joined Maidenhead this week after being over-looked for the manager’s position at Ship Lane when it became available last month.

Akurang is the club’s top scorer with eight goals, but Lincoln believes his departure will unite his side, who are facing the prospect of a season-long relegation battle.

Lincoln said: “If you have ten players pulling in one direction and one in the other then it does not work.

“And at the end of the day I need players who are on the way up – not the way down.

“He has been living on his reputation here. If someone can get him fulfil his potential then I am sure he can still be a good player.

“But at the moment I need 11 players pulling together every week, and not being brought down by someone who thinks he is better than he is.

“And so I think in the long-run we will be better off without him.”

Lincoln says he is working hard to bring in some new attacking talent in time for tomorrow’s home match with league-leaders Braintree.

Fleet lost against Braintree last month in Lincoln’s first game in charge, and have followed that up with back-to-back defeats to Bromley in the league, and lower-league Concord in the cup.

Tomorrow’s game at Ship Lane will also see Lincoln come up against his former manager and friend Rod Stringer, who he played for briefly at Aveley last season.

Lincoln said: “I know Rod well and I know his side will work hard and be hard to break down.

“But I thought we played well against them last month, and I think we can get something out of the game.

“What we need to do is starting cutting out the silly mistakes and defending as a team.

“Because we need to start keeping clean sheets if we are going to pick up the points we need.”