Connor Wilkins is back at Sheppey United and it’s money well spent, according to the boss.

Player-manager Jack Midson knows Wilkins can play in a variety of positions, starting him at Lancing on Saturday in a box-to-box midfield role. Wilkins was on the winning side as the Ites took the points 2-1.

• More: Captain departs Sheppey but new man arrives

The Ites were back in action on Tuesday night, losing 1-0 at Hythe Town.

Wilkins left Sheppey the summer after three years at the club, keen for regular action following 10 months out injured after the Covid pandemic.

“I am really happy to get him back,” said Midson, who first tried to get Wilkins in a month ago.

“We have been trying to do it but he was loyal to Faversham and he wanted to give the new manager a go. He stuck with it, bottom of the league.”

Wilkins picked up a knee injury during the post-lockdown tournament and was out for almost 10 months.

When he returned his chances were limited and he joined Faversham in the summer, initially under joint-managers John Embery and Jermaine Darlington before Simon Austin’s 40-day tenure.

With another change around at Faversham, following Sammy Moore’s appointment, Midson finally got his man and was delighted to include him last weekend.

Midson added: “He was doing them a favour, playing centre-back and left-back, but he came in and played in the middle for us.

“You could tell he had been playing at the back because he was blowing after a while, he was doing box-to-box running for us. He hasn’t done that for a long time.

“He is someone who takes that touch forward and drives us up the pitch with the ball. We have probably missed that in the middle recently, you then turn around and he is back defending. He has got both sides of it.

“He didn’t want to go [in the summer]. He came back from injury and wasn’t sure he would play with the players we were bringing in [under the former management].

“He is very versatile. He is not on a fortune as well, he commands a certain amount of money but value for money is what we need.

“Teams are finding that at the moment they are paying big money for people, but unless you are getting value for money you can’t really justify the wages certain players at certain teams are getting.”

Sheppey were a goal down against Lancing after 54 minutes but fought back with Warren Mfula equalising on 68 minutes and defender Tom Hanfrey netting a last-gasp winner.

Midson said: “They came at us and probably deserved their goal but we showed our resilience, came back and took our goals well. We were happy with the result in the end, we didn’t give it up, that is what it’s going to take.”

Ites also handed Gillingham loan defender Alex Giles his debut. The teenager had been missing after a blow to his head in training meant his first game for Sheppey was delayed.

“Alex was fantastic,” said Midson. “He played on the right of a three. He is a natural centre-back, he took a while to ease in but he was fine, he was so comfortable on the ball.

“I think that’s where academy football helps. They know where everyone is, they take their touch appropriately to the situation and when the ball does need to go he clears it and clears it well. Fair play to the young lads, they are very good coming out of Gills. They have helped us out.”

Giles and Wilkins both started against Hythe, a game which was settled late on with Johan Caney-Bryan winning it for the Cannons.

Sheppey are on the road again this Saturday when they face Three Bridges, a team sitting in the lower reaches but with a decent home record.

Midson said: “A lot of the teams mid-table or down the bottom of the league are similar to us at the beginning [of the season]. It is not really a true reflection of where you should be, it shows the strength of this league.

“Faversham are bottom but still good and will beat teams. You can’t be complacent.”