With Kingstonian riding high in the league, spare a thought for substitute goalkeeper Adam Faith.

The former Staines Town shotstopper is backup to Kingsmeadow number one Rob Tolfrey and you would be forgiven for thinking he might have splinters in his backside.

Tolfrey, who kept his 11th league cleansheet of the season in Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Ryman Premier League leaders AFC Hornchurch, should make his 200th appearance for the club on Boxing Day – barring injury or a dramatic loss of form.

And the 26-year-old reckoned benchwarming should remain part of the job description for any new goalkeeper arriving at the club anytime soon.

“I do not usually keep count of these things, but I’m looking forward to reaching that milestone,” he said.

“I’ve only missed one league game in five years since I signed for the club, which is a pretty good achievement I guess.

“People know when they sign for the club, that it is my shirt and if they want to play they will have to get it off me. It is the same for any position.

“They might get a cup game or two, but that is how it is. That’s football.

“It makes me work hard to make sure my form is good and I’ve got no intention of giving up the shirt.”

Faith played in Tuesday’s 2-1 London Senior Cup defeat to Redbridge, a match Tolfrey thought may have given him a cold.

But the roofer warned his understudy his flu remedy would see him right for the weekend visit of Lewes.

“The cold won’t keep me out,” he said. “You just have to man up and work through it.

“Getting back up on the roof tends to clear your head quickly so you just have to get back on it.”

Ks, who have the meanest defence in the division, had not conceded a goal in 360 minutes of league and cup football prior to Tuesday’s defeat.

And Tolfrey reckoned its the sort of form that will keep boss Alan Dowson’s men in the promotion hunt by the turn of the year.

“We’ve gone back to basics with our defence and the team as a whole,” he added.

“The personnel have changed a bit, but we are still playing the way we knew we could earlier in the season.

“Saturday’s result is the sort of game we will look back on at the end of the season and consider it an important point.

“Not many people will get points off them. It’ll be a busy period, but we’ve got the team and we have the squad to be up there after Christmas and then it is a case of kicking on.”

Wandsworth Times:

Rare scene: Rob Tolfrey leaves the field after being injured in the line of duty