Faversham Town manager Ray Turner is counting the cost of the club’s first league away victory in three months after losing midfielder Tom Hickman to a dislocated knee.

The 31-year-old former Dover and Ramsgate man was stretchered off after 21 minutes of the 6-3 win at Eastbourne Town on Saturday and is waiting for news on how long the lay-off may be.

It was just Hickman’s fourth game since returning to Salters Lane from Hythe at the end of October to fill the void left by a long-term injury to Michael Jenner.

Turner said: “It’s a huge frustration, for him of course, but for the rest of us too as he had made a real difference since he came back.

“It’s a pretty uncommon injury and even four days later, it’s too early to tell how serious the damage is due to the swelling.

“It’s one of those injuries where the scale is wide. I guess the worst case scenario, if there’s cruciate ligament damage, could be that it’s career-threatening.

“The best case would be that there is no ligament damage and the patella is OK and we might be talking 6-8 weeks.”

He added: “I would be surprised if we saw him back before the end of the year. Even if it’s January, it would be a bonus.”

Turner has already put a seven-day approach in for another midfielder playing at the same level as Town.

He said: “We only have a small squad and need to replace him, he’s an important player.

“Hopefully, I will be able to talk to the player on Monday and get something done.”

Town host Merstham on Saturday and Turner is keen for his team to continue their improvement.

He said: “I feel like we turned the corner in terms of performance a few weeks ago but now it’s important that we start to put some results together.

“We haven’t won back-to-back games since September and that’s what I’m looking for now.”