New signing Trevor McCreadie is facing a year out after suffering a knee injury on his Lydd Town debut.

McCreadie, a prolific striker, ruptured his ACL just 10 minutes into the Lydders’ 2-0 Southern Counties East Premier Division defeat against Stansfeld a fortnight ago.

The former Tunbridge Wells man, who joined from Eastbourne Town, had been a long-time target for Lydd, who are outside the relegation zone on goal difference.

“He’s out for 12 months,” said caretaker boss Ryan Smith.

“He played 10 minutes on his debut. He’s absolutely devastated.

“He’s joined the coaching team and what a nice bloke he is.

“We’re trying to support him and get his operation arranged and get him back to rehab.

“I’m gutted. I chased him for two years and got 10 minutes out of him.

“We also lost Tom Wynter in that game with his hamstring, where he came back and it’s gone again.

“They’re two monstrous players to lose.

“We haven’t had a lot of luck.”

Smith, who is working on a replacement for McCreadie, saw his beaten 7-6 on penalties after a 2-2 draw at Minster in the Kent Senior Trophy first round on Saturday night.

The Lydders, who had Kenny Pogue sent off before half-time, battled back from 2-0 down, with Smith scoring both goals, but were eliminated on spot-kicks after Will Dempsey fired over.

“We showed our fight in the second half,” said Smith.

“We just need a scrappy win from somewhere.

“I’m pushing the lads hard and I’m doing my own 5k runs.

“I don’t feel like I’ve let them down, I just feel I could have done better.

“It’s too early in the season to worry but I’ll do anything to turn this around.”

Lydd visit Athletic Newham in the FA Vase first round on Saturday (3pm).

Smith’s men beat Newhaven on penalties in the final qualifying round and are looking to continue their good run in the competition.

“Athletic Newham look good, I’m not going to lie,” said Smith.

“But we’ve got Ronnie Dolan, Sammy Adams, James Rogers, we’ve signed Matt Astle from Littlehampton, so we’ve got big players for big occasions.

“It’s a free hit for us, a free shot, and we’ve got to take it.

“We were brilliant in the last round and hopefully we get through.”

Lydd are in league action at Bearsted on Tuesday (7.30pm).