Whitstable boss Justin Luchford said he was devastated after his side were knocked out of the FA Cup by VCD.

Nicky Southall again missed out through injury – although it turned out he could have played – and Town went down 2-1 to their Kent Hurlimann League hosts.

Luchford, pictured, said: "We can all have bad days, but we should have seen the game out and taken them back to our place. The players were as devastated as I was to be out of the cup.

"We’ll have to see what the knock-on effect is with regard to what money we have available."

Town felt the absence of Josh Hare and Sam Groombridge but losing Southall, when he’d been set to make his debut, was tough to take.

Luchford said: "He did a fitness test but felt his hamstring again. Our physio couldn’t find anything but his old Gillingham physio had a look and it turned out to be a nerve problem, so the ironic thing is he would have felt better if he’d played."

Southall should feature at Merstham on Saturday.