Margate manager Reece Prestedge looks ahead to home Isthmian Premier match against Hastings United

Margate boss Reece Prestedge admits it’s tricky to know what sort of side tonight’s visitors Hastings will bring to Hartsdown Park.

The Sussex side sacked Paul Barnes as manager last week while former Maidstone, Ebbsfleet, Tonbridge and Dover defender Craig Stone has stepped down as the club’s assistant.

The 34-year-old does remain registered as a player, though, under the interim management team of Glyn White, Ben Cornelius, Sean Ray and Bobbi Deegan ahead of the club’s latest trip to Kent (7.45pm).

“They have had a few players go,” said Prestedge. “They’re probably going to be a little bit of an unknown.

“We have reports - but they’re from previous games and we’re waiting on the report from Saturday.

“It’s going to be a different sort of Hastings to what we expected. We’ll just have to deal with it.

Gate keeper in team-of-the-week

“Home games are where we have to aim to pick up maximum points - regardless of the opposition.”

Gate, looking to build upon Saturday’s dramatic 1-1 draw at home to Hashtag United and the 2-0 derby win against high-fliers Chatham last Tuesday, are without a competitive match this weekend.

They visit division rivals Whitehawk in the Third Round of the Velocity Cup next Wednesday after a second blank Saturday out of three.

Prestedge said: “It's a little bit frustrating, to be honest.

“The frustrating part is we didn’t have many home games - and now, we have five in a row in the league at home.

“We have Whitehawk in the Velocity Cup which is away. That’s a bit of a killer, especially after a weekend off. That means we probably can’t train on Thursday.

“It could kill a bit of momentum - hopefully not.

“We just need to stay on it.”