Folkestone Invicta have begun the search for Ade Yusuff’s replacement.

The striker has stepped up a league to go full-time with Dulwich Hamlet, leaving manager Neil Cugley with big shoes to fill.

Yusuff scored 51 goals in 102 appearances for Invicta, who he joined from AFC Hornchurch in 2017.

After a nomadic spell which also saw him turn up at St Albans, Leatherhead, East Thurrock, Welling, Chatham and Heybridge, the centre-forward found a home at the Fullicks Stadium.

Cugley said: “I think he did well. He had a lot of clubs in a short while before he came to us and (former Chatham manager) Kevin Watson was the one who said about him.

“He said ‘take a risk, he’s worth it’ and he has been well worth it. He’s strong, scores goals, leads the line on his own and I think he’s under-rated, I really do.

“He’s so strong – he’s just got to pick a pass in the final third. I don’t know if he’s greedy or doesn’t see the opportunities of others.

“Sometimes he comes over a bit moody but he’s not that bad really. If you’re watching him, you’d think ‘he must be hard work to manage’ but I’ve never had too many problems with him.

“I told him what he needs to improve on and he didn’t disagree. He knows it and if he does, it wouldn’t shock me to see him kicking on again.”

Finding a new striker of Yusuff’s quality is going to be easier said than done.

Cugley said: “It’s a busy time, lots of phone calls. It’s a good time of year for the players because they have the upper hand.

“It’s always going to be fairly difficult at Folkestone, geographically as well as financially, but we get on with it.

“It’s more like a long list (than a shortlist of targets) and hopefully you get one of them.

“I always think, at Folkestone, it’s got to be somebody who’s got the appetite and wants to do it. That’s why we’ve done well in the last two seasons because we’ve had players trying to prove a point because they’ve stepped up a league or something’s not been quite right in their career and we’ve given them the opportunity to show what they can do.”

Cugley confirmed that Tim Roberts, Finn O’Mara, Callum Davies, Matt Newman, Josh Vincent, Scott Heard, Micheal Everitt, Ian Draycott, Johan ter Horst and Alfie Paxman would all be part of his squad again next season.

He said: “We’re still waiting on a couple to make up their minds but it’s not a long list. We’re 70-80% there and that’s not a bad position to be in.”