Hythe Town have been dealt a major injury blow just as they were welcoming back some other key men.

Player-boss James Rogers has seen Tom Walmsley return to the squad while Alex Brown made a goalscoring comeback last weekend after missing more than a month. But their return was countered by the loss on Saturday of midfielder Charlie Webster, who suffered a dislocation and fracture of his knee in the 2-1 weekend defeat to Sittingbourne.

“I don’t think we will see him again this season,” said Rogers.

“He has been a massive player for us and has been the most consistent since I took over. He has always got people sniffing around but he has stayed loyal to the club, he is a great lad around the changing room and it is going to be a massive hit for us to lose him.”

Webster will hope to have a scan to see if there is any ligament damage on top of the fracture. His injury left Hythe finishing Saturday’s game with 10 men as all of their allotted substitutes were used. Brown was one of those introduced, back after his own knee injury, and he struck on 90 minutes with a free-kick.

One goal wasn’t enough, however, as Hythe were once again unable to take anything away from a positive showing.

Rogers said: “It has been the story since I have taken over really, most games we have been dominating and we do look dangerous going forward. We are missing chances but we are creating a lot of them, I thought we were unlucky on Saturday.”

It’s nine without a win now for the Isthmian South East side. They host Faversham in the league this Saturday.

Rogers said: “I still feel quite positive and confident that we will be okay, the players we have are good. We are having the better of games but if you are not picking up points it is pointless in dominating.

“Since I have taken over we have had some big players suffer injuries and they are all a miss but we have Browny and Walmsley back now which should help.”

Hythe beat Ramsgate on penalties in the Kent Senior Cup on Tuesday night. Riley Alford was on target for the Cannons as the game finished 1-1. They played the last 15 minutes with ten men after Connor Cheek was sent off.

Looking ahead to the weekend game against Faversham, Rogers said: “If we win and results go our way we can quickly climb up the table. It is a huge game for us but we are pretty confident, the effort and the work-rate is there. We just need to tighten up defensively on individual errors.”