Folkestone Invicta boss Neil Cugley says players owe the club's supporters a response as they welcome Lewes to Cheriton Road

Manager Neil Cugley thinks Folkestone’s players owe the club’s supporters a response this Saturday.

Fifth-placed Invicta host Lewes in another potentially pivotal match in the race for the Isthmian Premier play-off positions.

With seven league matches to go, six points separate the sides after a tough week for Folkestone.

They suffered their first home league loss last Saturday, going down 4-0 to Cheshunt, before a heavy defeat in their Velocity Trophy semi-final to Horsham on Tuesday night.

“It’s a really important game,” said Cugley, whose team were beaten 5-0 at Horsham.

"I think we owe the fans a response.

“When you are a local manager, it feels like you have let a lot of people down. But Cheshunt were a very good side.

“We now need to pick ourselves up.”

Injury-hit Invicta had only lost once at Cheriton Road this term prior to the weekend - going down 3-2 in extra-time to National League Eastleigh in the FA Cup - but simply were not at the races.

Their most recent home league defeat before then was a 3-1 loss to Cray Wanderers in September 2020.

Cugley reflected: “To be fair, they played the conditions a lot better than we did.

“It was windy and a bit like our last defeat against Hornchurch actually. We just didn’t adapt.

“I felt we didn’t really play the conditions but, to be fair, they used them well. They are strong and very experienced.

“I feel the players let me down a little bit. I don’t think we had a shot on target - you have to be very disappointed with that when playing at home.

“It’s something we have got to look at improving but we have had an unbelievable season."

With versatile player Jordan Wright already out with a broken leg, Folkestone also missed Ade Yusuff (hamstring) and all-time leading scorer