Ray Turner says Faversham are already reaping the rewards of their focus on youth development and is thrilled by the depth of his Town squad.

A Lilywhites side crammed with members of the new Ryman under-21 League talent ousted local rivals Sittingbourne from the League Cup first round 1-0 on a Tuesday night which Turner described as “pretty much perfect.”

He said: “It was a good opportunity to mix it up, take a look at some of the younger players and rest some of those that needed it. To go there, to a team that’s been doing so well, with a different team, to play well, get the win and keep a clean sheet – it was pretty much a perfect night for us.”

He added: “We’ve already seen the benefit of the work we’ve done with the under-21 side.

“In previous seasons, we might not have got through a period like this when we have five or six senior players out, we’d have been struggling.”

Senior players Luke Harvey, Jamie Maxted, Darren Marsen, Jack Harris, Josh Stanford and Renford Tenyue are among those to have missed games this season and Turner admitted: “The most important thing is to get some of our key players back and hopefully that’s starting to happen.”

Town have won just one of their last four Ryman League, Division 1 South games and saw a seven-match home winning streak ended by a 1-1 draw with Corinthian Casuals on Saturday.

However, Turner remained positive about the impact of young players at a time when he has missed players through injury and unavailability.

He said: “On Saturday we were without Josh Stanford, Jack Harris and Luke Harvey was struggling with a chest injury.

“It was frustrating as we were the stronger side and had we managed to get the second goal, I have no doubt we’d have gone on to win it.”

He added: “Even though we’ve dropped a few points lately, we’ve not done too much damage.”

Town remain second, 10 points behind leaders Burgess Hill, albeit with a game in hand, and Turner added: “Burgess Hill are on a massive high but at some stage every team will go through a period of having key players unavailable, so we just have to keep going.”

Renford Tenyue came through Tuesday’s game without any problems while Stanford should return at Carshalton after a hamstring problem.

Dean Grant (foot) and Harvey (chest) will be assessed while Harris is back in training and could get some time in the Kent Senior Cup first round tie at Dover on Tuesday. The Maidstone forward has had his loan extended until November 12.