Chairman Joe Brownett is hoping that Whitstable can "nudge up towards the 50-point mark" in their remaining Ryman League, Division 1 South matches and so build a solid platform for next season under manager Justin Luchford.

Mr Brownett (pictured), who has been chairman on and off at The Belmont for more than 20 years, believes the club are moving in the right direction under Luchford, who succeeded Peter Nott in November.

He said: "Everybody at the club is really pleased with the way things are going under Justin after a bit of a rocky start.

"We are playing some good football now and I think we are capable of nudging up towards the 50-point mark in our remaining matches, which would be no mean achievement after the poor start."

The Oystermen’s run of five successive wins came to an end with Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at Merstham, thanks to a last-minute own goal, but the chairman added: "There is no way we should have lost last Saturday but we have a big home game this Saturday against Dulwich Hamlet."

Hamlet are second in the table and Luchford is among their managerial admirers. "The three teams who have impressed me the most this season are Bognor Regis, Folkestone and Dulwich," he said. "But I want Bognor to win the title because I have some good friends down there."

Of last Saturday’s defeat he said: "We should have played out the last five minutes when it was 2-2 but instead we tried to go gung-ho and paid the price."

Top scorer Stuart Vahid, who scored Whitstable’s second goal at Merstham, later had to go off with a head injury and could be a doubt for this Saturday.