Manager Ben Smith has praised Bola Dawodu as the versatile ex-Herne Bay midfielder prepares to come up against his old club this Saturday.

Dawodu has had spells working under Smith - both at Winch’s Field and at Canterbury City - and was part of last season’s Bay squad which won promotion to Isthmian Premier.

Dawodu joined Bowers in the summer and is now set to come up against several former team-mates.

Smith said: “He has not played hundreds of games for me but he’s a player I have always had a soft spot for.

“He’s a great guy. I think everyone underestimates what a good player he is because he’s such a nice guy.

“It will be nice to see him but I would prefer not to play against him! I know he has a lot of love for the club as well, he will not want to play against us. So it’ll be a bit weird for both of us.

“I’m pleased he came back last season and he got a promotion on his CV.”

Bay head into the match having earned their first win of the season on Tuesday at Haringey.

They led 2-0 through goals from new signings Hassan Jalloh and Marcel Barrington before the home team hit back, only for strikes from ex-Sheppey defender Helge Orome and Jalloh’s second to earn Smith’s side a 4-2 victory.

“It was fully deserved,” Bay’s boss reflected.

“The boys gave a bit of everything to get the three points, to be honest - real quality at times, grit, determination and [there were] some quality goals.

“It’s quite a hostile place to go. Certainly when they get momentum behind them, it’s hard to stop. From 2-0 up to 2-2, the momentum was firmly with them.

“Their home form was a real strength last season so it was a fantastic three points.

“I was delighted for the players, they have worked their socks off over the two games and certainly deserved more than three points.

“In the grand scheme of things, it means nothing yet. But it’s nice to get that [their first victory] off our back. I felt it when we scored, it was like ‘OK, we know we can score in this league now.’ It’s just the little things, this is our first win away from home as well.

“It doesn’t take pressure off because you want to win more than one game but it prevents that potential to go a few games without a win.”

Smith is backing Barrington to ease the goal-scoring burden on last season’s top scorer Zak Ansah and he got off the mark at Haringey.

Smith said: “Marcel has not scored all pre-season so it’s nice for him. Hopefully he can kick-on from there.

“I thought his all-round play was excellent on Tuesday, he did a great job. But a number of them were outstanding.

“From the new lads, there have been some really good performances but Kieron Campbell was just unbelievable. Their full-back got subbed after 15 minutes!”

Forward Jalloh has also settled quickly and Smith added: “Hassan will be a key player for us this year.

“He’s still not at the fitness levels he needs to be, he knows that and is working on it, but I’m really excited by him. He has come in and hit the ground running, which I love.

“We are looking forward to seeing how he kicks on because he has good experience from playing for Havant and Hayes & Yeading.”

Bay’s midweek win came after they suffered a 1-0 defeat at Potters Bar on Sunday despite the hosts ending the match with an outfield player in goal.

“I’m not going to say we deserved to win it but we perhaps could have gone on to win it. On another day, Marc scores, he hits the post - and similar with Hassan,” Smith explained.

“So we could be sitting a little bit prettier than what we are but it’s early days.”

Herne Bay had been due to play their first home match on the 3G pitch next weekend against Kingstonian but say this fixture will take place at Ramsgate due to “slightly delayed work” on the surface amid the recent heatwave.