Three might just turn out to be the magic number for beleaguered Whitstable, according to chairman Gary Johnson.

Town haven’t been outside the bottom three in Ryman League Division 1 South since the opening day of the season and rock-bottom since November.

Saturday’s 2-1 derby defeat at Faversham left Town effectively 15 points from safety, with 14 games remaining, and having played more games than the sides around them.

Mr Johnson insisted ‘it is not all over’ adding: “We have to pick ourselves up because we have 14 games to go and I think we need 28 points to ensure safety, it will be difficult, but we have to preserve our Ryman League status.

“We have a mountain to climb, but I believe we can do it. We are good enough to get out of it but we have to prove it, starting with Saturday’s game against South Park at the Belmont (3pm). It’s our biggest game of the season and I urge people to come and support us.”

Mr Johnson revealed he sat in disbelief for an hour after his side allowed a late lead to slip to defeat against Hastings, but added: “Over the course of 32 games we have not been good enough, but over the past seven or eight games we have improved significantly.

“You can make all the excuses you like about hitting the woodwork or wrongful decisions but over a 46-game season teams are as good as their results indicate and I personally believe teams that finish in the bottom three should be relegated.”

Recent precedent however suggests that might not be the case and might provide cause for optimism among the Oystermen faithful.

East Grinstead finished third-bottom last year, yet were handed a reprieve from relegation, as were Redhill the previous year, while a reshuffle in 2012/13 meant Chipstead, Three Bridges and Walton Casuals avoided demotion despite finishing as the bottom three.

Mr Johnson said: “History has shown that the bottom three are not always relegated.

“There might be a reprieve for the team finishing third-bottom, but we cannot afford to rely on that – we want to take matters into our own hands.

“We have still got to play against (second-bottom) Chipstead, (third-bottom) Peacehaven and (fifth-bottom) East Grinstead. I think it’s between the bottom six teams now.”