Hythe Town have boosted their survival bid with the signing of striker Javaun Splatt.

The forward, whose former clubs include Ramsgate, Sittingbourne and Sheppey, has returned south after starting the season at Northern Premier League side Clitheroe.

He made his debut in difficult circumstances as the Cannons lost 3-0 at fellow Isthmian South East strugglers Three Bridges on Saturday.

But the 23-year-old is a talent and has the ability to help Hythe climb out of the bottom four.

“I’ve been after him since I’ve been at Hythe,” said Davis, who took charge in August.

“He’s been playing up north and, just out of the blue, he said he was coming back, so we put a seven-day approach in. It all happened really quickly.

“He hasn’t played loads of football lately, which seems to be a trend with the players we’ve signed, but he gives us another option, which is really important for us.

“We need to be able to go a bit longer and run the channels, if and when we need to.

“I worked with his brother, Jamie, when I was at VCD, and we’ve been in touch.

“I’m pleased to get that one over the line and hopefully he can score some goals for us.”

Danny Parish, whose second-half double earned a point against Littlehampton last week, had been recalled by Sittingbourne for their FA Trophy tie against Enfield.

He wasn’t required by the Brickies in the end but it was too late to get him involved at Three Bridges.

Davis said: “At the last minute we knew we could probably have him - I’m not sure what the situation was - but it was too late because we’d already brought Jav in.”

Hythe travelled to Three Bridges with a chance to move above their opponents and out of the relegation zone.

But, missing captain Lex Allan in central defence, they conceded twice inside 15 minutes and again before half-time.

The Cannons had taken four points from their past two games but had a day to forget.

“We just started off slow again,” said Davis.

“Unfortunately we went back to our old ways.

“The two goals were carbon copies.

“Ollie Gray was really ill before the game, he shouldn’t have played, but with Lex away he had to play and we had to play Siao Blackwood at centre-half, so we had to reshuffle a couple of things.

“It didn’t work, they were really good, on the front foot, and we didn’t play well.

“It was a big game where they were one place in front of us.

“We’ve turned up in those games recently with the Steynings, the Lancings and the Littlehamptons, but we didn’t in this instance.

“If we’d got a result, all of a sudden you’re three unbeaten but unfortunately we put in that sort of performance.”

Allan returns as Hythe host play-off contenders Burgess Hill at Reachfields this Saturday (3pm).

Davis’ side are two points from safety, having played a game more than closest rivals Littlehampton.

“It’ll be a tough one on Saturday but we’ve done OK at home,” said Davis.

“Our points have come there and we’ve got to continue that because otherwise we’ll need to start picking up points away from home really quickly.

“We’ve got Lex back, who was a big miss for us.

“We’ve got to keep fighting and keep being positive. That’s the aim.”