Goalkeeper Dan Eason has been praised by Whitstable player-manager Andy Drury - after playing on with a shoulder injury!

Relegation from Isthmian South East for the Oystermen was all but confirmed on Monday as they lost 6-1 at sixth-placed Ramsgate.

Midfielder George McIlroy gave Drury’s side the lead at Southwood but Eason then suffered his injury in the early stages of the encounter before the Rams ran away with things.

“Dan has a grade 2 tear to his shoulder,” revealed Drury, whose team were beaten 1-0 at home by Faversham last Saturday.

“For him to play on, it sums up the type of guy he is. It shows great character from him.

“Danny Walder didn’t stop running, either. That’s the sort of characters you need throughout the whole squad.

“You need 15 or 16 of them at this level.”

Reflecting on the two defeats in just over 48 hours, he added: “If we had taken a point against Faversham, then you have got more hope for the weekend.

“We had some pretty good results before the Faversham game, and that game could have gone either way. The Ramsgate game was always going to be a tough ask.

“But I cannot fault the effort of the players since I came in.”

Whitstable’s slim chances of survival now rest on them winning well at home to second-bottom Lancing this Saturday, in their last scheduled first-team match on a grass surface at the ground, while they'll also need rivals Herne Bay to do them a favour and heavily beat third-bottom Phoenix Sports to get the seven-goal swing required.

Drury admitted: “It’s going to take a bit of a minor miracle now but you cannot give up on things in football.

“We will try and get a result to finish the season well.

“Harry [Goodger] is suspended [after being sent off against Faversham] so he will be out. But we will still have a decent team.

“We want a decent result to go into the summer with, regardless of what happens elsewhere.”

With Eason - who has made more than 250 appearances for the club - likely to be sidelined, Adam Highsted, signed by Drury when he took charge at The Belmont last month, is expected to deputise.

Drury said: “We knew Dan had a slight knee injury, anyway. So we knew we had to get someone in.

“Adam’s played a few games for Kev Brown at Rochester and I’ve had good reports back from them.

“I’m sure he will be ready if required.”

Whitstable’s expected relegation has somewhat overshadowed the news the club are planning on installing a 3G pitch in time for next season.

“It’s exciting news for the club,” Drury enthused.

“It shows the direction the club is going in.”