Gary Lockyer speaks about his return to Ashford United after leaving Cray Wanderers

Gary Lockyer has unfinished business at Ashford United after rejoining his hometown club.

Lockyer is back with the Nuts & Bolts following a brief spell at Cray Wanderers in the Isthmian Premier.

He started only two games under former Gillingham midfielder Neil Smith and, at 29, that’s not enough.

There was plenty of interest in the prolific striker, who scored a combined 37 goals for Kennington and Ashford last season.

But it made sense for Lockyer to return to Homelands and try to help Tommy Warrilow’s side go one step further after the disappointment of last season’s Isthmian South East play-off final defeat.

It wasn’t an easy decision to leave in the first place but Lockyer felt he needed to give the higher level a go.

“The idea of getting myself fit was to step up but it didn’t work out,” said Lockyer, who marked his return with two goals in a 4-0 win at Corinthian on Wednesday night.

“I felt a bit harshly done by, but that’s football.

“Sometimes people think because you’re getting paid you’re happy to stay but that’s not the case for me - I want to play football, so I made the decision to move on.

“I had a lot of interest to stay in the Isthmian Premier but I wanted to get back playing and what better way than to go back to my hometown club and reunite with Tommy and OB (Alex O'Brien)?

“It was tough leaving in the first place but Cray seemed a good fit and Neil Smith’s been around the game and knows quite a lot.

“He had his plans and I don’t really think he’d seen me play, I think he might have gone off recommendations from others.

“I did enjoy it there, they’re a good club, with good people, and the lads were good as well, but I need to be playing football.

“Once I left Cray, it was a no-brainer to go back to