Alan Pook insists Worthing have nothing to fear in tonight’s play-off semi-final.

The Rebels travel to Cray Wanderers for a one-off game with a place in the Ryman division one south play-off final up for grabs.

Cray finished second in the league, three places above Worthing, but joint boss Pook believes his side are more than capable of winning.

The hosts will start as favourites but the Rebels are in good spirits after finishing their league campaign with a comprehensive 3-0 win at Corinthian-Casuals on Saturday.

Pook said: “Most people consider going to Cray as the short straw but for me it is all positive.

“In 30 years of management I have only lost to Cray once. We beat them 4-1 at home this season and lost 2-1 away in what was our most inept display of the season.

“Unlike last year when the three sides above us wanted to play Worthing in the play-offs, this year we are the side nobody wants to play.

“Cray are very experienced with a few ex-professionals and finishing second is a sign they have done very well.

“But Bromley's ground (where they play) is nice, the surface is good which will suit us and we will probably have more support than they have as I expect 300 fans to travel with us.

“Everything is positive and, unlike last year, if we perform we can beat anybody.”

Worthing missed out in the play-off semi-final last year but their young side have shown great maturity this season when they went on a 21-match unbeaten league run between September and February.

Pook believes the balance in the squad is better with the addition of a couple of experienced players, like Paul Kennett from Lewes and goalkeeper Alan Mansfield from Horsham.

He said: “If we go there and play to our ability we will win.

“The young players are a year older. They have been there, seen it and done it and were very disappointed last year. We have got a few older players this year and they have been superb.

“As the players came off on Saturday everybody, even before they knew who we were playing, were in the zone saying ‘Let’s win the next game’.

“Everybody is raring to go. There is no trepidation whatsoever in our camp.

“There is a belief in the squad we should have got automatic promotion but we had a run of seven games where we only won two and that cost us.

“We feel we could have done it without having to go through this lottery but we have got to do it the hard way with two away games if we want to be promoted. If that is what we have to do, we will.”

Andy Alexander made a goalscoring return from a thigh injury as a half-time substitute on Saturday to put himself in contention for a starting place.

Glen Woodburn also came through his return from injury without any problems and 15-goal midfielder Scott Kirkwood is back in the squad after completing a four-match ban.

Ben Andrews also returned from injury against Corinthian-Casuals but came off at half-time and may have to be content with a place on the bench.

Pook said: “We have got strength in depth on the bench.

“We are looking at players who have signed for us and there could be a surprise on the bench.”

Follow Rebels LIVE tonight at the argus.co.uk/livereports