Boss Neil Cugley says he regards Folkestone frontman Ira Jackson as a friend after managing to lure the former Football League player back to the club.

Jackson, 25, signed for League 2 Grimsby in 2020 after a prolific season with Invicta in Isthmian Premier, which saw him score 20 goals.

Jackson scored three times for Grimsby but left last September and signed for Wealdstone, who released him at the end of last season.

He had been training with National League newboys Maidstone in pre-season but now has returned to Cheriton Road.

“To be fair, I speak to Ira every week anyway,” said Cugley, who started Jackson in their opening-day 1-1 draw at Enfield.

“I just hoped, one day, he would say yes and he did in the end!

“He did well on Saturday. He is a bit of a health freak and has been training at Maidstone so I wasn’t too worried about throwing him straight in there.

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“He is the one person I wanted to get in. That gives us four really good forward options.

“I think he’s a friend, really. Sometimes, he asked me about his career when he was at Grimsby and Wealdstone.

“I have to thank the supporters’ club as well. They helped give us the money to get it across the line.

“Although we looked at [other] players, he is the one we wanted to get back, really.”

Invicta debutant Kadell Daniel scored for Folkestone at Enfield as they came from a goal down, but Cugley felt his troops did enough to win.

“We should have got three [points] really,” Cugley reflected.

“They sort of scored against the run of play in the first half, a long ball caught us out a bit.

“First half, we hit the post and definitely [should have] had a penalty that wasn’t given.

"But it’s the first time I have played that team together, they did well.”

Daniel’s first competitive goal for Invicta was a stunning one, too, which saw him bend a left-footed effort into the top corner.

Cugley wants to see more of the same from Daniel, saying: “He scored some good goals in pre-season.

“In training, his finishing is really top standard. It’s the one area of his game he needs to improve on, and he would probably agree, but he’s got his first [competitive] goal now - [although] we didn’t know it would work out straight away like that!

“But he’s a player who has a lot of quality.”

Folkestone now get their competitive campaign under way at home.

They are due to host newly-promoted Hastings tonight before a home encounter against Wingate & Finchley this Saturday.

On their Cheriton Road return, Cugley said: “Early games, we struggled to score a bit in pre-season, but that was more to do with the quality of the opposition.

“We are an attacking side and an exciting side. Hopefully, people will want to come and watch us and build on the support we have had in the last couple of years.

“Hopefully, they will not see too many dull games at Folkestone.”

Cugley also hopes to have defender Matt Newman back from a knee problem before the end of the month.

“I think maybe the following weekend for him,” he said.

“Next Tuesday, we have got no game so, for the Bank Holiday weekend, it would not shock me if he was on the bench. He is a good player and it will be great to have him back.

“Last year, we flogged the players to death a little bit but, hopefully, we can mix it up a little more.”

Folkestone will play Cray Valley at home in the first round of the Kent Senior Cup on Tuesday, September 27.