EASTLEIGH boss Kelvin Davies believes his side have "set the standard" following their unbeaten start to the National League season.

The Spitfires' 100 per cent start to the season was halted in their fifth game as Sutton United held them to a 1-1 draw at the Silverlake Stadium.

Eastleigh, Sutton and Saturday's opponents Gateshead are the only unbeaten teams remaining in England's fifth tier - with the Spitfires currently sitting atop the tree.

Sutton claimed the lead in the 13th minute thanks to a spectacular curling strike from Eduino Vaz. The hosts drew level 25 minutes later when Paul McCallum headed in his fourth league goal of the season.

Eastleigh had to hang on at the end as Jayden Harris hit the crossbar for Sutton, but the point leaves the Hampshire side two clear of Gateshead at the top of the table.

Speaking to Eastleigh's media team, Davis said he is pleased they managed to see out an important draw against Steve Morison's side.

He said: "We will take our time and maybe do a little bit more recovery work than just preparing for Gateshead. I would rather have a fresher team than be as organised as we could be.

"It's a tough game. We are away from home - we've had a couple of them already this season. The lads have set the standard.

"We want to keep giving them the right information to retain their levels. For the team to perform at the level they did given the amount of energy they put in on Saturday is pleasing.

"We haven't got the biggest squad. We are quite lean. A lot of lads have played two 90 minutes in a few days. We didn't manage to keep the intensity as high as we would have liked.

"We took a more reserved view in the second half to see if we could draw in a little bit of pressure and catch them on the counter. It wasn't to be.

"On the balance, we will take the point. We knew that they would be a threat. To get the goal back at the time we did (was important). We are satisfied to stay unbeaten over the weekend."