Folkestone Invicta boss Neil Cugley says the fact his side are in a Ryman League Premier Division relegation battle shows they are ahead of their long-term schedule.

Cugley (pictured) rebuilt his side with youngsters in 2008/09 and secured a mid-table finish in Division 1 South.

After that the club stormed to the top of the table, securing promotion despite a 10-point penalty last season, with the young core of local players growing in stature.

However, this season Invicta have won just five league games at the new level and are four points from safety with 10 games remaining having lost 3-1 at home to Hastings on Saturday.

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Cugley said: "Of course you want to stay up but this was always a long-term plan. It has to be when you chuck so many youngsters in together, otherwise what’s the point?

"The first year we came mid-table and the second we would have won the league, had it not been for the CVA.

"This year we are struggling but when we went up we said we would stick with the players who got us here and we’re not going to change anything now.

"This was supposed to be a five-year plan. This year we were supposed to be hoping to push for promotion in the division below. We are only three years into the long-term plan."

Invicta travel to Wealdstone on Saturday and Cugley said: "They are a good side and I still think they’ll get into the play-offs."

Kember will miss out through suspension but Micheal Everitt (knee) should return.

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