Ray Turner claims his current crop of Faversham prospects are the best the club have ever had but the onus is on him to find the right balance to get Town back to winning ways.

Town exited two competitions inside four days with the 4-3 FA Trophy defeat to South Park on Saturday followed by a 4-0 defeat to Folkestone in the Kent Senior Cup on Tuesday, not that Turner was unduly worried.

He said: “It’s not the worst thing in the world. I suppose the bright side is that although we’ve lost two games, neither of them have hurt us in terms of our league standing.”

Town head to Horsham on Saturday (3pm) before playing Hastings at the Shepherd Neame Stadium on Tuesday (7.45pm) in the League Cup second round, Town’s last distraction from their promotion push in the league.

Turner said: “The division is as tough as it’s ever been this season and we are going through a bit of a transition. We are playing catch-up a bit but there are 33 games to go and the winter in this league is a long, hard, slog.

Town did end a three-match winless run with a 4-2 success at Guernsey last Wednesday and Turner added: “We had the long trip, in midweek, when people struggle to get off work, with 13 players and a couple of teenagers on the bench and came away having inflicted their first home defeat.

“We have been missing some senior players but it’s great experience for our young players. They struggled with the physicality on Saturday but the only way for them to learn is to play in games like that.”

George Monger and Matt Bourne are suspended for Saturday’s game, while on-loan keeper Ben Bridle-Card is cup-tied on Tuesday and will again be replaced by Rob French, signed on dual-registration from Sevenoaks ahead of the Kent Senior Cup tie, for which Bridle-Card was also unavailable.

Turner added: “It’s up to me to get my head down and find some solutions – find the right balance of youth and experience. I think this is the best group of young players the club have ever had but we need to have the likes of a Matt Bourne, a Luke Harvey or Jamie Maxted in there to balance it out a bit.

“It is a bit frustrating because I’m not able to put out the team I’d like to see but there are bright points. Jordan Casey made a good full debut on Tuesday and Jack Steventon did a good job going straight in at centre back.”

The 18-year-old arrived from Sittingbourne on Tuesday and Turner said: “He has had a lot of experience for someone so young.”