Folkestone Invicta joint-head coach Roland Edge on getting returning striker David Smith enjoying his football and back on the goal trail again

Joint-head coach Roland Edge believes the key to David Smith hitting the goal trail at Folkestone once more will be ensuring the striker is enjoying his football again.

Smith is back at Cheriton Road, having left for National League Bromley a year ago.

It didn’t work out at Hayes Lane for 24-year-old Smith, who also had loan stints with Folkestone’s league rivals Hornchurch, Hastings and Margate last term.

Edge, in charge alongside joint-boss Micheal Everitt, said: “We know what Dave can do.

“We know his strengths, it’s about the team playing to his strengths. For myself and Mev, it’s about getting Dave happy.

“I think he thought, last summer, ‘My career is taking off’ but it didn’t quite pan out that way. He went on loan to a couple of clubs in our league.

“If you could ask him, I think he would have been happiest back with us. But, because he had left, that was never an option.

“He’s back now, though, and getting Dave happy again is a main aim.”

Invicta continued their pre-season schedule with a 2-1 friendly loss to higher-division Dover at Crabble last Saturday.

But upbeat Edge reflected: “There were loads of positives.

“We have got a lot of new faces for the first time in a long time. They’re getting to know what we want and it’s not going to happen overnight.

“Dover had a lot of trialists and a lot of good players.

“I don’t think it would be too out of order to say we could have gone in with a lead at half-time.

“We just lacked a little bit in the second half but, overall, it was good.”

An outrageous and opportunistic strike from midfielder Ade Cole put Invicta ahead.

With many supporters in the bar or heading back to the terraces, Cole spotted the Dover goalkeeper off his line and hit an inch-perfect lob - only for