Whitstable boss Scott Porter has urged his players to step up and fight as they strive to stay in Bostik South East.

Town suffered a 3-1 defeat to derby rivals Herne Bay on Saturday, leaving them down in 18th.

The result paved the way for 19th-placed Greenwich to close the gap to just two points with an unlikely 2-0 win over East Grinstead.

Despite a poor performance at the weekend, Porter remains confident his side are strong enough to stay in the league.

“It was disappointing, too many players had off-days and we just didn’t start well enough,” he admitted.

“We came out in the second half spirited but we just didn’t show the fight.

“I believe we’re good enough to stay in this league but we just need to fight. I need fighters. I know I’ve got them, I just need to see it.

“We’ve worked so hard to get this club to where it is, they’re all cup finals now. Saturday’s game with Guernsey is massive.”

Whitstable hosted VCD in one of their games in hand on Tuesday evening, but having taken the lead through Taylor Fisher on seven minutes, Porter’s men saw their strong start halted when the game was abandoned following an injury to VCD’s Dominic Odusanya.

An ambulance was called, but with its estimated arrival time being around an hour the call was made to bring the game to a premature end.

Porter said: “Stuart West cleared the ball and followed through with his knee into the lower back of the player.

“He was lying on the floor for quite a while and complaining of tingles in his back.

“An ambulance was called and once we found out how long it would be we all decided it was in the player’s best interests to call the game off.”

While Odusanya’s condition became the leading priority at the time, Porter admits it was slightly frustrating to see a bright early response to Saturday cut short.

“The atmosphere was really good early on,” he said. “We started well and got the early goal after a good team move.

“It’s just one of those things. The player becomes the main focus over football in a moment like that.”

The shortlived clash staged a first sighting of Harry Stannard following his return from Ramsgate earlier in the day.

Porter, whose side have scored the fewest goals in the division with 21, is hopeful the forward can boost Town’s attack.

He said: “He’s different to what we’ve already got, he’s clever and good on the ball.”

Guernsey, 17th in the table, arrive level with Whitstable on 26 points having played a game more.