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Simon Austin reckons he is there or thereabouts in terms of rebuilding Faversham’s squad.
While the Town manager didn’t rule out further additions, having already signed more than a dozen players inside his first month, he is looking forward to working with the players on the training field.
“It’s difficult to gel as it is, but we have got to get to a point where we’re comfortable with the squad that we’ve got and let it settle down and create camaraderie in the changing room,” said Austin, whose side remain bottom of Isthmian South East after a 3-2 defeat to Sheppey on Saturday.
“It was good in there before the game and even after, it was all right, it was positive, which is good. Those are the types of characters we need.
“I think any manager will say that they are always looking to strengthen their squad, as we are. But I think we are there or thereabouts and we need to let the squad settle down now and actually start to work.
“We’ve had three training sessions since we’ve been here with the group, which is not a lot.
“We need to get on the training pitch and start to work on improving ourselves and implementing how we want to play.”
Ex-Herne Bay striker Zak Ansah struck on his debut while fellow frontman Frankie Sawyer also got off the mark in the defeat.
Antone Douglas started against Sheppey after signing from Cray Valley as Austin bolstered his defensive ranks, with legendary centre-back Matt Bourne left out of the squad altogether in a tactical decision. Winger Kieron Campbell has rejoined Town, as well, after he left Herne Bay last weekend.
“Frankie deserved his goal,” said Austin. “He’s been brilliant off the field since he has been here.
“He’s a character that we knew, which is half the reason why I brought him in and, on the field, it’s been a little bit stop-start for him.
“As for Zak, that’s what he does. Zak’s not played for a little while so we need to make sure we manage that - we don’t want to lose him now we’ve just got him - but, if we create chances, Zak will score goals, which is what we need at the minute.
“At this level, Zak is going to score you goals and that’s what we need. That’s why we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to get that done.”
Bradley Schafer played in midfield and was involved in Ansah’s goal, being named Town sponsors' player-of-the-match. And Austin praised the versatility of both Schafer and Connor Wilkins during his tenure in charge so far.
He said: “They have both been exceptional and they have both played in a few positions.
“We’ve not had the luxury of having pre-season games so you can look at people and try different things. We’ve had to try and do it as we go and that’s tough.
“I thought Brad was fantastic. What we’ve got to do is make sure we get that consistently out of Brad. He knows that and we know that.
“With Connor, he was again superb and he’s been superb for the last four or five games now.”
While basement boys Town have picked up just seven points from 15 league fixtures this season, winning two of Austin’s nine games in charge, they have three winnable matches on paper coming up.
They’re at Three Bridges this Saturday, host second-bottom Corinthian next weekend and travel to third-bottom Haywards Heath on December 10.
Austin said: “The next couple of weeks are really big and we have to start picking up some points.
“But I’m confident now, with what we’ve brought in, that we are ready to go.”
