Teenager Finley Cotton has made a positive early impression at Whitstable.

The 19-year-old midfielder, formerly involved in youth set-ups with Charlton, Millwall and Chatham, has returned to The Belmont.

He had been training with Jamie Coyle’s new-look squad earlier this summer - only to then go on trial with a Championship club.

Cotton made his debut for the Oystermen in their 3-1 Southern Counties East Premier Division defeat at home against Rusthall last weekend before he got through another 90 minutes in Wednesday’s 3-1 victory at Lydd.

“He was one of our better players on Saturday,” said Whitstable manager Coyle, speaking before their much-needed midweek win.

“He’s one that has been trialling at different professional clubs. We had him earlier in pre-season - but he then went off to a Championship side for a trial.

“He’s come back and wanted to sign so he was a massive plus for us in terms of the positives to take out of Saturday’s game. He added real energy and enthusiasm to our midfield. He’s made a real difference.

“After Wednesday’s game, we have got a break with no game on Saturday. We have got two training sessions before the FA Vase and that will be a great opportunity to integrate two or three new faces into the group then - as we did last week.

“If a player becomes available and is similar to the Finley Cotton situation where they have been trialling at higher levels and he’s a good fit for the group, we’ll welcome that with open arms.

“We’re not the finished article in terms of the squad.

"We have got some good contacts that we have been speaking to - whether it’s the agents or the players themselves - and we have got them lined up to be coming into training from Tuesday night.

“Hopefully come the Vase game on Saturday week (at Corinthian-Casuals), we’ll have another couple of additions to the squad.”

Coyle felt Whitstable created more clear-cut chances during their defeat to Rusthall than they did throughout most of their pre-season friendlies combined as they lost 3-1, substitute Josh Oliver’s stoppage-time goal proving no more than a consolation.

Whitstable had three times the number of opportunities - 21 in comparison to the away side’s seven - but lacked a killer instinct. Only five of their efforts were on target.

On that loss, Coyle said: “It’s a very similar story to the first league game where we have created so many opportunities.

“We had more clear-cut chances on Saturday than we did for most of pre-season!

“We have got a statistician at the club, one of the directors, Ron Martin, and he was reeling off the statistics after Saturday’s game.

“We should have been out of sight early in the game. We missed two one-on-ones, hit the crossbar, hit the post and, with the way things are going for us, we got caught on the counter-attack and they scored.

“Obviously, everyone’s heads drop a little bit because it’s the way things are going.

“We’re having one of those rocky stages that every team goes through.

"Things aren’t dropping for us and goalkeepers are getting man-of-the-match in all the games we’re playing because, on a positive note, we are looking a threat in the final third.

“But we’re not quite killing teams off by scoring at the right times, then we’re getting sucker-punched at the other end and conceding soft goals.”

A point from the first two league fixtures, coupled with an early FA Cup exit, is far from the start Coyle had hoped for at the start of his Whitstable tenure.

But Deal were crowned champions last season as they recovered from an awful start and goals from Harvey Smith (2) and fellow forward Jerson Dos Santos got Whitstable’s campaign going at The Lindsey Field.

Coyle said: “It’s a long season, isn’t it? That’s what I have said to everyone.

“We will be judged at the end of the season on where we’re sitting in that league table and we’re comfortable with that.

“With the recruitment that we have done and the recruitment that we’ll continue to do, and the work we have put in behind the scenes, we’re confident that we will be in the right place come May.

“It’s just a little frustrating with regards to the two league results that have happened. But we’re positive and definitely going to take the positives out of Saturday in terms of the fact that the chances we have created were enough to win two or three games.

“But sooner or later, we do have to be more ruthless in both boxes.”

Whitstable have a fixture-free Saturday this weekend before they return to action at Corinthian-Casuals in the FA Vase.