Chatham Town suffer Isthmian Premier defeat to Canvey Island and lose to Cray Wanderers in Kent Senior Cup ahead of FA Cup home clash against Slough Town

Chatham Town will look to put their inconsistent league form behind them when they tackle higher-league opposition in the FA Cup this Saturday.

Manager Kevin Hake admitted there were no excuses for a 3-1 home defeat against Canvey Island last weekend in the Isthmian Premier, their third loss from their opening seven league games.

Chatham will be looking to bounce back with a home tie against National South side Slough Town in the FA Cup third qualifying round.

Last weekend’s league defeat saw Canvey score twice in the opening 10 minutes and they blazed a penalty over the bar after the hour mark before adding a third with a minute remaining.

Chats got a consolation through young striker Sam Sene-Richardson deep into added-on time but to add to Chatham’s woes, they also had substitute Reece Butler - on his 300th appearance - sent off for a second bookable offence.

“No excuses, we weren’t good enough on Saturday,” said the Chats boss.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Canvey, as they were deserved winners, but we gifted them the win.

“We conceded two early goals and once you do that you are always going to face an uphill struggle.

“We now look forward to a bumper tie against Slough in the FA Cup at home, where we find ourselves just two wins away from the first round proper.

“We know it’s going to be tough a game as Slough are doing well in the level above but we know there is a lot at stake.

“Our league form of late has not been great, but in the FA Cup we came through difficult away ties against Westfield and Welling United, so we will need to replicate that form if we are to be in hat for next round.”

Isthmian League Premier Division table

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