Marcel Nimani is prepared to be patient with Harrison Carnegie after an influential Whitstable debut for the winger.

The ex-Sheppey man bagged a goal and an assist last weekend as the Oystermen drew 2-2 with Southern Counties East Premier Division leaders Erith & Belvedere in Nimani’s first home match in charge.

Carnegie recently departed Brightlingsea Regent and is still attracting plenty of interest from other Step 3 clubs but Nimani would love to keep him at The Belmont.

“Harrison is an ex-player of mine, I have got a good friendship with Harrison,” said the Whitstable boss.

“He’s getting a lot of interest at Step 3 but the door is open if he wants to continue playing with us.

"We are being patient with him.”

A topsy-turvy encounter saw Carnegie give the hosts the lead and, although Erith & Belvedere hit back after the restart to go 2-1 in front, Muhammed Cham volleyed in a right-wing Carnegie cross with just seconds left as the spoils were shared.

“It was a good week for us, it was our first full week in charge and I would say objective complete,” said Nimani, whose side have taken seven points from their first three fixtures at the helm.

“In terms of Saturday being our first game at home, I’m aware our home record wasn’t very good, so it was important. It was fairly entertaining.

“We won the first half and I felt we were good value for winning the first half. But second half, I was a little bit disappointed because they adjusted better than us and went 2-1 up.

“Despite us not being as good, we showed a lot of resilience and a lot of character - these are all things we speak about. It’s pleasing from that perspective.”

Former Academy player Cham’s late strike came after he had missed some earlier opportunities.

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Nimani said: “Whitstable have got a fantastic youth system and Josh [Algar] runs the Academy. He has been doing really well, coming off the bench and is getting closer and closer to starting.

“Just before Erith scored to go 2-1 up, he had a fantastic chance.

"So we had a bit of a go at him in a silly way after the game but he, obviously, made up for it.”

It’ll take time for the Oystermen to build a winning mentality after relegation last season from Isthmian South East but they are fourth, just five points behind second-placed Stansfeld who they have a game in hand on.

“That’s our ultimate goal,” said Nimani. “Our ultimate goal is to build a side that can beat anybody.

“Once we do that, we can compete for the top two positions but we’re not quite there yet.

“Last year, they were relegated and haven’t had the best of starts this season. It takes time to build that winning mentality.”

Whitstable now have a couple of free midweeks to help their new-look squad gel together.

Nimani said: “We have got a few midweeks free, we will use that to do some team bonding sessions. We are looking to do something somewhere.

“It’s always difficult to take over halfway through the season. We are looking to establish a base of consistency to the side now.”

This Saturday, the Oystermen are back at home against third-bottom Punjab, who beat Bearsted 2-1 last weekend.

“I know Punjab very well, they have a great management side and a lot of experience,” said Nimani.

“Although they haven’t had a great start, they beat Bearsted who, themselves, are a great side.

"We just need to execute the things we have worked on in training.”