Manager Keith McMahon believes it’s vital Whitstable don’t panic despite sliding back to the bottom of the Isthmian South East table.

The Oystermen lost 2-0 at Phoenix Sports in a big match at the foot of the league on Saturday, their fifth straight loss.

McMahon, who has a foot in both camps as first-team boss of Whitstable but also a junior team coach at Phoenix - where his sons play - said prior to the match that the weekend result would not define either clubs’ seasons.

But he conceded: “It’s a blow when you are playing teams around you and lose.

“We are bottom again now - but we are only three points from safety. The most important thing at the moment is not to panic.

“To be fair, the club have been brilliant with what I’m trying to do. We have a really tough one on Saturday (against Ashford) but we have a lot of teams around us to play as well.

“We have 11 cup finals and we need to try and win at least four or five of them.”

There was little to choose between the two teams at Phoenix before Steve Carvell scored a stunning goal. Then as the Oystermen pressed forward in search of a leveller, midfielder Alfie Evans added a late second.

McMahon reflected: “Listen, it was disappointing. It was not a classic, don’t get me wrong.

“With the wind, I knew it was never going to be a classic. It was a fairly even game, but we got punished for two mistakes.”

Whitstable welcomed back experienced defender Junior Baker and Gus Barnes from injury, but they lost winger Alex Gaggin to a recurrence of his hamstring problem.

“We are looking at maybe three or four weeks,” said McMahon, who arranged to play a friendly against Maidstone’s under-23s on Tuesday.

“We need to replace Alex. I feel sorry for him, he’s had such a stop-start season.

“He has not been able to show everyone what a good player he is. But I’m sure he will come good.”

Things don’t get any easier for Whitstable who welcome promotion-chasing Ashford to The Belmont this Saturday.

McMahon noted: “We have been playing well against the top sides recently. We played really well against Hastings and Cray Valley, and could have got something.

“I just want to give something for the supporters to get behind because they have been excellent.”

McMahon is looking to bring players in, although concedes he may not be able to get any over the line for their match against Tommy Warrilow's Ashford.