CHRIS KINNEAR'S conscience is clear after an outburst from a rival manager over the signing of Tom Murphy this week.

Horsham boss Hugo Langton laid into Margate and Kinnear, accusing them of making an unofficial approach for midfielder/striker Murphy.

It made headlines in the Non-League Paper and Langton told his club's website: "I know there's a lot of sneakiness at this level of football but I've lost respect for Chris and Margate Football Club over this."

But Kinnear did nothing wrong and called Langton to explain.

The Blues boss said: "I don't know what all the fuss is about.

"Maybe the poor fella was going for the sympathy vote because of the problems Horsham are having paying players.

"Tom had been training at Welling after leaving Farnborough and said he was only helping Horsham out.

"He turned up at training because he knows one or two of our lads and Horsham went all silly over it. I phoned Hugo to explain and he said it was fair enough.

"I put seven days in once I realised we needed to.

"Hugo was going to cancel his registration and let him play for us last Saturday but maybe these stories will make people feel sorry for them.

"They're losing players and that but tough."

Last Saturday's home match against Harrow Borough and Tuesday's trip to AFC Hornchurch were postponed because of the lousy weather but Gate's game at East Thurrock tomorrow (Saturday, 3pm) should go ahead.

Murphy, 20, who started his career at Gillingham, could go straight into the side.

Kinnear said: "He's a decent player and very quick. He can play anywhere but I might use him through the middle."

Gate need goals from somewhere after Kwesi Appiah's departure. The boss added: "I've got irons in the fire but it's not easy to replace the top scorer in non-league football.

"We've gone for several players who are either too expensive or their clubs won't let them go.

"We want to try and push on from where we are and to do that we've got to score goals.

"The rest of the side is OK but you put yourselves under pressure if you're not scoring."

Blues have still been able to train over the past couple of weeks and the players are in good shape.

That includes Dean Hill who has recovered well from a knee injury that threatened to sideline him for the season.

Kinnear said: "Dean will definitely play again this season.

"He trained flat-out on Tuesday, it's just a case of getting him match-fit."

Postponed matches have been rearranged for the following dates: Tuesday, February 28 – Bury Town (a); Tuesday, March 13 – Harrow Borough (h).