Whitstable Town manager Justin Luchford has admitted that his players desperately need a good performance against Worthing this weekend to bolster confidence.

Town's 5-0 home defeat to Ryman League Division 1 South title-chaserss Whitehawk last weekend left them in the bottom two, and they will need a big improvement if they are to get anything from their trip to another of the promotion hopefuls.

Luchford (pictured) has called for a performance from his players but admits there appears to be a confidence issue at the club that needs to be addressed.

He added: "We need a performance against Worthing which should then give us confidence going into three home games.

"We’ve got to be doing this for the supporters who are paying out money to watch us.

"It might be a bit tough this weekend but what I will be saying to the players at training is ‘what do you want to do, go there and roll over or give it a real go?’ If they go out there and give it a go then we stand a good chance.

"Clearly there is a confidence issue and at the moment I don’t know. Someone has got to stop the rot and I’m hoping that it’s going to be me."

Dan Wisker (thigh) and Stuart Vahid (knee) are both doubts for Saturday while the future of Damian Abel remains a doubt after the forward walked off after being substituted against Whitehawk.

Rumours circulated this week that he might be on his way back to Faversham Town but Luchford – who would not be drawn on the incident at the weekend – insists the player is staying at the Belmont.

He said: "There was an issue but that will be dealt with in-house. All I will say is he is registered as a Whitstable Town player."