Jamie Coyle is confident of bolstering Whitstable’s already-depleted midfield options.

It’s been a frustrating first couple of matches of the season for the Oystermen, who were knocked out of the FA Cup 2-1 at Isthmian South East Sevenoaks by ex-boss Marcel Nimani last weekend, having blown a two-goal lead during stoppage time of their opening-day Southern Counties East Premier Division 3-3 draw at Sutton Athletic.

Whitstable have started the season light in midfield.

But Coyle has revealed there were plenty of new faces at training this week, with some expected to have signed in time for this Saturday’s home match against Rusthall.

“It’s in midfield,” said Whitstable boss Coyle on where he needs to strengthen. “We have literally only got three midfielders and two of those have had long-term breaks through injury in Mitch Chapman and Michael West.

“We have had to flog them a bit in pre-season and at the start of the season, whereas we would rather have been able to manage them a bit more.

"We will need to be able to freshen it up at times.

“But we had five or six new faces at training on Tuesday night, who did really well.

“Hopefully, one or two of those will come in this week.”

Coyle and his management team have been swift to act with those who have been unsuccessful in earning higher-division moves this summer now available.

He said: “Like I said a month ago, it’s going to take a little bit of time to get the players we want.

“They’ve been pitching themselves in higher leagues - and our season starts two weeks earlier than most. But we still need to pick up positive results in the meantime.

“With the players we had in on Tuesday night, they’re players that have pitched themselves in the National Leagues and Isthmian Premier level that are becoming available.

“From Saturday onwards, we will have one or two fresh faces in the squad.

“We’re not going to be judged after two weeks - of a season that has started ridiculously early - it’s about where we are, come the end of the season.

"We’re confident that we will be in a better place by then.

“We have got a couple of youngsters signing youth-team contracts.

“Off the pitch, it’s looking really encouraging - it’s not just with results where the club is looking to build.”

Nimani got one over on his old club, as goals by attacking midfielder Kiye Martin and former Whitstable winger Rodney Eruotor sandwiched Oystermen forward Jerson Dos Santos’ effort.

“It was a disappointing result and disappointing to go out of the cup so early,” reflected Coyle. “But I don’t really feel like we deserved to go through.

“There were not many chances for either side. We started the game slowly and they got a goal.

"We did well to get back in the game through Jerson but it ended up being a frustrating afternoon, really.

“It’s clear we’re missing two or three players in the squad and lacking a bit of depth.”

Whitstable’s match against Rusthall is their first competitive action of the campaign at The Belmont.

“I think everyone is excited,” Coyle admitted. “It’s going to be a big occasion.

“The club are working hard behind the scenes to get as many people as they can in for that game.

“They have got a huge following in relation to everyone else in the league. Especially at home, we have got to get good results that get more people through the gate.

“It’s exciting for our players to play in front of 600 or 700 people - but you have got to win games if you want to continue doing that.”

On Jimmy Anderson’s Rusthall team, who beat Sheerwater 4-1 in their FA Cup replay on Tuesday after drawing the original fixture 1-1 at the weekend, Coyle stated: “We have had them watched twice.

“We sent some of our team to watch them. They’re a young, energetic team, and they got a good result on Tuesday night.

"They’re going to be up for it and, playing on our pitch, they will enjoy it.

“But we need to make sure our quality comes through and we can get three points on the board.”

The Oystermen are then at Lydd on Wednesday.

“It will be a completely different game at Lydd on a hard, bobbly, pitch,” noted Coyle. “Our game-plan needs to be completely different on Wednesday to Saturday.

“Lydd has got a lot of experience. Playing in the league last year really helped to show me that you need to prepare for different games in a totally different way.

“You need a game-plan for a 3G and a game-plan for a hard, bobbly pitch.

“We will train on Tuesday ahead of the Lydd game but, our focus for now, that’s all on the Rusthall game.”