Stringing a run of positive results together is the key for Whitstable after an indifferent start to their season.

The Oystermen lost 3-0 at Deal in the Southern Counties East Premier Division on Tuesday after Saturday’s victory by the same scoreline at Sutton Athletic thanks to goals from Steadman Callender, Josh Oliver and Rodney Eruotor.

It means manager Marcel Nimani’s troops have collected 10 points from seven league games to sit in eighth spot.

“We spoke to the boys after Tuesday night about the fact that we have got to find that consistency,” said Nimani’s No.2 Craig Coles.

“Ultimately, if we are to get to where we want to get to come the end of the season, we have got to be a little bit more consistent in our results.

“If you look at the league, we’ve won one, lost one, drawn one, won one, lost one, won one and then lost one. We haven’t really had any consistent spells.

“Don’t get me wrong, I know we’ve had the FA Cup. That has helped in a way in terms of building momentum and, even when losing to a Step 3 side [Wingate & Finchley 3-2], I thought the performance was fantastic.

Whitstable midfielder makes team-of-the-week

“But hopefully, having league games coming up, we can try and build a little bit of momentum.”

Deal away is well known as one of the tougher matches in the division and it certainly proved the case for Whitstable in midweek, with the damage done before half-time.

Coles reflected: “Deal’s always been a tough place.

“Obviously, you can look at their results in recent weeks - but they don’t really mean anything. They had missed quite a few of their regulars as far as I’m aware but their starting line-up seemed a little bit stronger to the ones in recent weeks.

“No matter who started for them, ultimately, the game was always going to be tough. The game was sort of done in the first half.

“We fell into a little trap of us playing how they wanted us to play, rather than us playing how we wanted to play.

“It was always going to be tough to come back from being three goals down at half-time.”

The hosts’ second came from a penalty by Aaron Millbank. After the restart, the visitors felt they could have had spot-kicks of their own but saw their protests dismissed.

Coles added: “They were just more up for it than we were.

“Don’t get me wrong, the ref didn’t help us during the game. I’m not going to blame the result on him because the performance wasn’t great either, especially in the first half.

“But when he’s given decisions one way and then not the other way, it’s always going to be tough.

“We could quite easily have had two penalties in the second half which were probably the same level as the one given in the first. But, unfortunately, they weren’t given and you just have to go with it.

“I can’t sit here and blame the ref for the result. We spoke to the boys at half-time and, the second-half performance, it was like watching two different sides.

“We’ve got to take some positives from that and the reaction of the boys. It’s a shame we didn’t play how we did in the second half in the first.”

Promising young striker Harvey Smith has been involved in the Oystermen’s last two games, joining on a dual-registration basis from Margate.

“Both the games he has come on in, he’s made a real impact, especially on Tuesday night,” noted Coles.

“I thought he changed the game a little bit for us.

“We were able to play into his feet and get players running off him. I know Marcel tried to get him at some point before.

“Obviously he’s still with Margate and we’d respect their decision if they do decide to call him back.

“But it’ll be good if he can start a few games for us in the near future and then we can see what he can offer us going forward.”

Whitstable will aim to put their midweek defeat behind them when they host Jimmy Anderson’s Rusthall team this Saturday.

Coles said: “We’ve said to the boys that we have got to put in a better performance than we did on Tuesday.

“The boys have got an opportunity to do that on Saturday at home.

“I know Rusthall lost a few players at the start of the season but they’re still going to be a strong side this year. They were up there last year.

“Their manager is a good guy and they’re really organised so it’ll be a competitive game.”