Whitstable Town manager Jamie Coyle warns team they must improve after home defeat to Larkfield & New Hythe ahead of weekend game at Stansfeld

Manager Jamie Coyle has warned Whitstable’s squad that they cannot afford a repeat of their performance during the midweek defeat before the end of the season.

Coyle's side lost 4-1 at home to Larkfield & New Hythe in the Southern Counties East League Premier Division on Tuesday.

“It’s a game that we have got to get three points from,” said Coyle as his team now look to respond at Stansfeld this Saturday.

“There’s no shying away from the fact that, after Tuesday night, we need to get three points and perform better than we did.

“If we perform anywhere near our capabilities, I’m confident we can deliver three points on Saturday.

“It’s good that performance (on Tuesday) has happened early in the season but it definitely cannot happen again between now and the end of the season.”

Whitstable had taken 10 points from their previous five league games but were brought back down to earth with a bump against Larkfield.

Having quickly responded through forward Fin Dent after the visitors had gone ahead early on, the Oystermen went behind shortly after the half-hour mark when a controversial penalty was awarded.

Larkfield doubled their lead midway through the second period and captain Mike West was sent-off for Whitstable, who also failed to convert a penalty which was taken by striker Harvey Smith.

Coyle reflected: “I think that everything that could go wrong in a football match went wrong.

“We got a penalty given against us at 1-1 that was never a penalty. We then had a player sent-off as we were trying to get back into the game.

“In all my years of management, I have never had so many under-par performances in one game.

"We probably - without exaggerating - had seven or eight players that delivered their worst performance of the