Faversham Town joint-boss John Embery says goalkeeper Luke Watkins will still be involved despite ruling him out for the season

Goalkeeper Luke Watkins will still be involved at Faversham despite being ruled out for the season, joint-manager John Embery insists.

Watkins has not featured since a serious knee injury in November following a 1-0 victory at Corinthian.

With Watkins now expected to miss at least most - if not all - of the 2022/23 campaign, Town’s new bosses have re-signed keeper Simon Overland.

But Embery says Watkins will still have a part to play for the Isthmian South East club.

He said: “He’s injured for the season. I’m not sure where we are at exactly, but he’s either having his ACL done this week or had it done last week.

“It’s sad because he’s a good goalkeeper. Hopefully he will be available next season.

“With an injury like that, you never know how long they will be out or if they will even want to play again. I should imagine he can train from January.

“But training and playing are totally different things. We will work with him and then, hopefully, we will have a very good goalkeeper on our hands. Hopefully he can come back as strong as ever.

“He’s going to be involved. He will be involved on the bench and with the group.

“That’s important for us - don’t forget about them because they are injured. At the end of the day, they got injured playing for the club.

“That’s important for their mental well-being as well, so we’ll support him as much as we can.”

The Salters Lane club have also kept hold of centre-backs Matt Bourne and Jono Richardson and midfielder Sam Bewick, who lives in the town.

“We have got about 12 signed so we are literally there already squad-wise,” revealed Embery.

“We are very pleased with the business we have done. We are pleased to have Simon back on board, I knew he was a fans’ favourite before.

“Speaking