Lewis Knight is working with not one but two of his old bosses after joining Ashford United.

Defender Knight marked his league debut by scoring the only goal as United won 1-0 at Erith & Belvedere on Sunday.

It was the perfect start to the Isthmian South East season for Ashford and their new centre-back.

Knight, 29, played under Ashford boss Kevin Watson as a youngster at Chatham.

He also worked under Adam Flanagan when the Nuts & Bolts assistant was in charge at Concord Rangers.

The fact he knew the pair was key to his move after leaving Margate.

Knight said: “Kev was my manager at Chatham - I must have been 18 or 19 - and I was with him for a few seasons and Adam was my manager at Concord before I went to St Albans.

“So I’ve had them both separately as my manager and they’re really good people.

“I knew I could trust them with regard to working with them.

“As you get older, you’re more inclined to work with people you know because a lot of things get said in football.

“I reached out to Kev to ask if I could come in for training, which is what happened, and we went from there.

“It’s helped being with people I know.”

Knight hasn’t played at Step 4 since his days at Chatham.

He brings big experience to the team and while his main job is to keep things tight at the back, his winner at Erith & Belvedere shows he’s a threat in the opposition box, too.

“It was nice to get a win in the first league game,” said Knight.

“I know a few people at Erith & Belvedere and they’re a good side.

“Kev’s got his way he wants to play and I feel we’re only going to be learning that more and more as time goes on.

“The players have picked it up well already but there’s loads to work on.

“You know Kev, he doesn’t get too high or too low, which is one of the things I like about him.

“He wasn’t jumping through hoops after the game but it was a good starting point for us.

“He’s exactly the same as he was at Chatham all those years ago.

“He’s very particular about people taking on information and rightly so.

“To do things and to win things, the devil is in the detail.

“We’ve got players here who are maybe on the way up and looking to get up the leagues.

“I’d still like to do that but I can help the young players because I come with a wealth of experience having played higher.”

Ashford host Isthmian South East rivals Beckenham in the FA Cup Preliminary Round this Saturday (3pm).

The tie has been switched to Chatham Town’s Maidstone Road ground, due to the ongoing 3G pitch works at Homelands.

Knight was at Maidstone when they reached the Second Round four years ago, losing to League 1 Blackpool.

But he doesn’t really count that on his football CV.

He said: “I’ve not got a great record in the FA Cup.

“I don’t count the run at Maidstone because I wasn’t that involved and I had a lot of injuries.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted, to be able to look back at a good cup run.

“Hopefully that can be this year but it’s one game at a time.”