Ray Turner admits it’s likely Faversham’s late-season play-off surge will fall short but refuses to give up with eight games remaining.

The surprise 2-1 defeat at Whyteleafe in their final game in hand on the leading pack on Tuesday night left Town seven points adrift of the top-five in Ryman League Division 1 South, with an inferior goal difference.

The Town boss said: “We looked a little like we were lacking energy, maybe the games have caught up with us a bit. It’s a shame because we’re back to one game a week now.

“We needed to win to put any pressure on the top-five. It looks unlikely that we’ll make it now. We are too far off. We can’t worry about what-ifs or what might have beens.

“I have admiration for the players, they have never thrown the towel in and no matter what, they won’t in the last eight games.”

Turner added: “Whyteleafe played well in the first half and caused us problems but we caused our own downfall. We made mistakes and were punished for it.

“It was disappointing, like the (3-2 loss) at Greenwich, we waited until we were 2-0 down before we woke up. In the end, we were camped in their box but it was too little, too late.

“It was painful when you think we could have been four points off but as it is, it’s seven and we’ve run out of games in hand.”

Town visit play-off dark horses South Park – 13 points off the top-five but with seven games in hand still – on Saturday (3pm) and Turner said: “They are a good side. We got beat up in the Trophy against them but should have won against them in the league last week.”

He added: “This is a time for a period of reflection, trying to see the areas where we’ve come up short. We need to learn to take the initiative in games, control them and cut out the errors.”

Town have been given a timely boost by the return of Charley Robertson, who played a large part in their push to the play-off final last season.