Deal Town boss Steve King delighted to have ‘fantastic’ Ash Miller fit and firing again after forward’s late winner against Sevenoaks Town

Ash Miller marked his return from injury with a stunning winner for Deal Town on Saturday.

The 31-year-old former Gillingham forward came off the bench to fire home a brilliant injury-time volley in Deal’s 3-2 victory at Sevenoaks.

It was only Miller’s second appearance since December and Deal manager Steve King is delighted to have him back.

“He's a fantastic player,” beamed King. “In terms of technical ability, I don’t think you’ll find many better at this level or probably the level above.

“He’s just coming back from an injury and that was a real big boost for us, coming off the bench and obviously finishing with that quality in the last minute.

“He did a hip flexor and then we tried to bring him back a little bit too soon.

“It’s been one of those annoying ones where he’s been training and he can do everything up to about 80 per cent, but it was just that final sprint or that final stretch he was struggling with.

“We decided that rather than persisting with it, we’d just give him a few weeks to get it right.

“He needs a little bit of match sharpness, but that’ll come over the next couple of weeks. He was probably one of our best players in the first half of the season.”

Miller’s return, along with Rory Smith, adds to King’s attacking options.

Deal have scored 10 goals in their first four games in 2026 and the manager is hoping they continue that rich vein of form.

“We’ve struggled a little bit with our finishing recently, we’ve had a lot of chances and not been able to take them, so it was nice to get three goals on Saturday,” said King.

“Josh Strouts has come in from Folkestone and started brilliantly, then we’ve had Rory Smith back, Wes Hennessey and young Owen Wilkinson scored again - that’s five in his last three