Whitstable Town followed up a 4-0 loss against Peacehaven & Telscombe with a midweek defeat to Sittingbourne but boss Lee Martin expects improvements with key men returning – Newhaven visit on Saturday in the FA Cup

Whitstable Town boss Lee Martin is looking forward to seeing some experienced faces back in the fold after a torrid opening to the new league season.

A 4-0 loss in their Isthmian South East trip to Peacehaven & Telscombe on Saturday was followed by a home loss against Sittingbourne in midweek - the winner scored by their former Wembley hero.

Martin expected a bumpy beginning, with the likes of Tom Derry, Kweku Lucan, Robbie Rees, Ian Gayle and Tom Beere missing from his line-up at the weekend.

Lucan was back for the midweek game against Sittingbourne, which ended in a 2-1 loss.

Former Whitstable front-man Harvey Smith - who scored at Wembley and was named man-of-the-match in their famous FA Vase triumph - completed a permanent move to Sittingbourne this summer and returned to haunt his old team with both goals in the midweek win, including a stoppage-time winner.

That blow followed a big weekend loss. A red card inside a minute for Harrison Pont at Peacehaven was followed by two quick goals and a third with half an hour gone. The hosts added a fourth late on.

“We are missing a few boys, five experienced players,” said Martin. “Not to make excuses, but they are the mainstays of our team.

“We’ve missed both our captain and our vice-captain and in those moments, they’re quite telling. We’ve missed the spine of our team.

“There’s one or two boys that could come in there and aid the team as well. It sounds like excuses, but they are facts, and we are relatively light going into the season.

“They’re due to be back within probably the next week, so let’s see how it looks from there.

“We knew it was going to be slow progress. We didn’t have the answers straight away because we’ve got a brand new team. We’re looking at players in