Faversham boss Ray Turner claims he has put the pain of May behind him and is plotting another assault on Ryman League promotion.

Town suffered a 3-0 defeat in the Division 1 South Play-off final at Worthing at the end of last season, a result made all the more bitter by the controversial circumstances leaving them playing with 10 men for more than an hour and surrounding at least two of the goals.

Turner revealed he had been inundated with messages of solidarity from those who had seen the match video, although he added: “Nothing will change anything, things didn’t go our way but we have to move on.

“After I had a couple of weeks to come to terms with what had happened, I wrote a letter to Worthing congratulating them.”

He added: “I’m pleased with the attitude the boys have shown since coming back for pre-season. It’s good to be back and it’s been positive so far. We want to give it another go and we are all on the same page.”

Town went down 2-0 at National League South Margate on Tuesday night with Guyana international and former Leicester and Stoke man Marcel Barrington scoring two first-half goals while Town hit the bar from a penalty kick. Turner said: “We made a couple of errors and got punished but it was a good game.

“We have Whitstable on Saturday (3pm at the Belmont) next, we have some good games in pre-season and Maidstone coming on Thursday (July 28) and hopefully they’ll be bringing a near full team which will be a good test too.”

Despite plans to relocate to the North West, former Stone Charley Robertson has opted to remain in Kent and stay with Town.

Turner said: “That is good news for us. He feels settled here and fits in with the boys, so it means we have managed to keep the 16 together and maybe we’ll be looking at one or two additions.”

He added: “A lot of other teams have been active but they will be starting the season with new sides – we need to take advantage of being settled.

“I am chuffed with what we have achieved in the last four years but we are going to have to excel to get back into the top-five.

“People are used to seeing our name up there in recent years and maybe if we can start well and establish ourselves up there again, then people will just accept it.”