Whitstable Town player-boss Jamie Coyle says Kent Senior Trophy final defeat a blessing in disguise after securing third place in the Southern Counties East Premier Division

Player-boss Jamie Coyle believes Whitstable’s Kent Senior Trophy final defeat has proved a blessing in disguise for his promotion-chasing squad.

Town picked up 10 points in four games in the space of six days after losing to Larkfield & New Hythe to secure third place in the Southern Counties East Premier Division.

They continued their fine form with a 2-1 win at Corinthian on Wednesday night and finish the regular season at home to Glebe this Saturday (3pm).

Coyle’s men will have home advantage in the play-off semi-finals against Fisher, Punjab or Rusthall on Tuesday night (7.45pm).

The final will be held on Bank Holiday Monday (May 5) at the home of the highest-placed team.

Whitstable’s cup final defeat, going down 3-2 to Larkfield at Maidstone’s Gallagher Stadium, helped to refocus minds for the promotion run-in and the results have been there for all to see.

Coyle said: “We’ve lost one in 24 (before Wednesday) and it was a shame it was the cup final but I said to the boys in the changing room after that game, I think it could be a blessing in disguise.

“It was the first game in three or four months where we weren’t really at it, we didn’t have the same intensity levels we’d had recently, and we got rolled over by a team who wanted it a little bit more than us on the day.

“To have the response of beating Lydd, Lordswood and Rusthall and getting a good clean sheet and a point against Fisher, it’s probably the best week we’ve had.

“To play all those games and the get the results we have is testament to the players.

“On average, we’ve made eight or nine changes to the starting XI for each of those games as well, so the depth of the squad has been really important to not pick up any injuries during this strenuous part of