Manager Marcel Nimani still a fan of the extra stoppage time being played this season – despite Whitstable Town falling victim to it in 3-2 loss to Welling Town –as they aim to bounce back quickly

Manager Marcel Nimani insists he’s still a fan of the extra stoppage time being played this season – despite Whitstable falling victim to it.

An extraordinary ending to last Saturday’s 3-2 Southern Counties East Premier Division home loss to strugglers Welling Town ended Whitstable’s six-match winning run.

Striker Harvey Smith put The Oystermen 2-1 ahead in the 91st minute after winger Josh Williams’ second-half penalty had cancelled out former Whitstable frontman Marcus Elliott’s early goal.

But three minutes later, the visitors equalised and Welling Town snatched the winner in the 99th minute.

It comes with England’s refereeing body the PGMOL having opted to use more additional time in order to reduce time-wasting and better account for goal celebrations, substitutions and injuries this term.

Nimani said: “It’s fantastic. If there’s one thing I would like to praise the authorities for, it’s the fact they’re playing the added time.

“We’re a team that likes to play football, we want to play 90 minutes of football.

“I looked at the statistics a while back and, in some games, they were actually only active for around 40 minutes. There’s no point in teams time-wasting now. I certainly don’t think ‘Had the game finished earlier, we maybe wouldn’t have lost’.

“Even though we were on the receiving end of it, I don’t blame the authorities. I praise them.”

A presentation was held before kick-off on a wet afternoon in recognition of full-back Jake Mackenzie, who passed 250 club appearances last week.

Nimani said: “He has stood by the club.

“He is a Step Four or a Step Three full-back. His commitment to the club and the community is inspirational.

“Quite a few players are going to take some milestones soon. The result would never