Folkestone boss Neil Cugley is hoping Jerson Dos Santos can embark on a scoring run after ending his lean spell at the weekend.

Dos Santos scored the final goal in Invicta’s excellent 3-1 victory at East Thurrock United – a result which kept Cugley’s side second in Isthmian Premier behind leaders Worthing.

The strike moved him to double figures for the season but was his first league goal since netting Invicta’s equaliser in the 1-1 draw away to Carshalton on November 2.

Those two teams meet at the BuildKent Stadium on Saturday and Cugley is hoping the 28-year-old striker can continue where he left off at Thurrock.

Cugley said: “I was really pleased for Jerson, it was a great finish, the sort he was producing when things were going well for him earlier in the season.

“Hopefully it will help him get his confidence back. He’d not scored in the league for a few weeks and that sort of thing can play on your mind.

“I think strikers probably have the hardest job, you’re expecting them to be good in the air, hold the ball up, and above all score goals and when you’re not doing the latter you feel the pressure.

“You see a substitution is being made and it’s you again who is coming off. It’s hard for your confidence but hopefully he can kick on after Saturday.”

The win at East Thurrock came on the back of beating Hornchurch 2-1 at home after going down to 10 men following a first-half red card for skipper Callum Davies.

Cugley admitted both were big performances, and proved his side are capable of winning in different ways.

He added: “They were two very different games, and the boys deserve every credit for coming through them in the way they did. One thing I am pleased about is their fitness – to their credit they all do a lot on their own and we’ve looked very sharp recently.”

Cugley expects another tough game with sixth-placed Carshalton on Saturday and will be without player-coach Micheal Everitt, who suffered a recurrence of his Achilles injury against Thurrock and could be out for two to three weeks.

Invicta will also have to do without suspended skipper Davies.

The former Gillingham man was due to serve a one-match ban for his dismissal against Hornchurch in the Velocity Trophy tie at Basildon on Tuesday but that match was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

The tie has now been re-arranged for Tuesday, February 18.

Invicta are in midweek action again next Tuesday (February 11) when they travel to National League South side Tonbridge in the Kent Senior Cup.

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