Chatham Town striker Rob Denness is unable to play for the club after his registration papers got lost in the post.

It is another blow for troubled boss Paul Foley, who this week described the season as "treacherous" ahead of Chatham’s Ryman League Division 1 South match at Dulwich Hamlet on Saturday.

Denness (pictured) returned to Maidstone Road on transfer deadline day and the club e-mailed the paperwork, allowing him to play against Whitehawk on April 2, during the five-day period allowed by the Ryman League.

Secretary Henry Longhurst then posted the papers to the league’s offices at Bury St Edmunds but they have not arrived – leaving Denness in limbo.

Mr Longhurst said: "The league are looking into the problem which I think has been caused by the census which had to be returned on March 27.

"The backlog has snarled up the rest of the mail which has been undelivered. I have been doing the job for four years and was assistant secretary for three years before that and I have never known anything like this happening before."

Denness has been de-registered along with Gareth Witter and Matt Rowe, while Alfie Harris and Uche Ibemere were ruled out. Foley said: "That is how it has been every week unfortunately. Pretty much everything that can go wrong has gone wrong."