Whitstable Town manager Jamie Coyle praises squad’s strength in depth after 2-1 comeback win against ground tenants Faversham Strike Force

Jamie Coyle has praised the strength in depth of his Whitstable squad.

The Southern Counties East Premier Division leaders came from behind to finish a memorable 2025 with a hard-fought 2-1 "away’" victory over tenants Faversham Strike Force on Saturday.

With skipper Jake McIntyre injured (broken toe) and young forward Nathan Jeche unavailable, they lost key midfielder Mikey Dalton to a first-half knock (knee) before striker Javaun Splatt, playing through illness, put Stuart Benfield’s Strike Force side ahead with an own goal.

But Whitstable defender Finn O’Mara equalised and top scorer Splatt then found the net at the right end for the game’s all-important third goal at The Belmont.

On McIntyre’s absence, boss Coyle said: “We’re hoping it will only be a couple more weeks - but he’s adamant he’s going to try and play this Saturday!

“We’re going to have to monitor that. The only real negative from Saturday was we could have lost Mikey Dalton long term with a medial ligament injury so he had to come off.

“Macca wasn’t there, Splatty was ill and Jeche was unavailable. We had a number of key players that were under the weather, unavailable or injured.

“So, again, it just shows the quality and the depth we have got in the squad to call upon boys that haven’t been playing recently to deliver top performances, which is really pleasing.”

It was a seventh straight success for table-topping Whitstable.

Coyle reflected: “We did our due diligence on Strike Force.

"Obviously, I know Stuart really well, we help each other out with opposition analysis.

“Their recent form hasn’t been great but they have only lost by the odd goal in most of the games.

“They’re a resilient side and well organised. It was a tough game, as we were