Manager Andy Drury admits Folkestone need to become more clinical as they aim to climb the Isthmian Premier table.

Invicta only have league matters to focus on for the rest of the season after they were edged out 2-0 at home to Southern League Premier Division South side Hanwell Town in the FA Trophy second round on Saturday.

Folkestone were without the cup-tied pair of experienced forward Joe Turner and young defender Joel Odeniran while Matthias Fanimo came off the substitutes’ bench much earlier than expected to replace Khale Da Costa, who sustained a hamstring injury.

Top scorer Dan Smith played the full game, having had his suspension after his red card in this month’s 1-0 derby defeat to Dover overturned, but he was kept quiet by Hanwell - and Drury accepted they’re too reliant on the 11-goal man.

He said: “We need to start scoring more goals - we know that.

“Our second top-scorer, Evans Kouassi, is on four!

“Amadou Kassarate and Tom Derry have three, Khale has got a couple, and Joe and Fanimo haven’t scored for us yet.

“We need to score more goals and be more clinical in front of goal.

“It’s up to the players to show that they can do it. If not, we might need to start looking elsewhere.

“But we don’t want to do that, really, because we believe these players are good enough.”

Depleted Folkestone fell behind against Hanwell just before the hour in front of a crowd of 602 and conceded a stoppage-time second as they threw bodies forward.

“First half, I thought we controlled the tempo and possession,” reflected Drury. “I don’t think they threatened us too much.

“I just felt we were not clinical enough. We had two or three really good chances and didn’t take them. We were not really on the front foot and we were just a bit flat.

“When you have four or five out, that really impacts your options. Then, Khale came off after 20 minutes and Fanimo had to come on, which we didn’t really want to do at that stage.

“It was just one game too many for us.

“With about five or 10 minutes to go, we went to one centre-half. It’s not a league game and, with the cup, you’re either in it or out of it.

“We got in some great positions, but the ball just didn’t fall to us. They defended really well, to be fair to them, and they’re doing well in their league.

“It would have been nice to go through a few rounds in the Trophy for the fans and everyone connected with the club.

“But with the players we had out, it was just a bridge too far.”

While many tipped Invicta to be at the top-end of the Isthmian Premier table by now after recruiting a vastly-experienced squad in the close season, Drury always knew it would take time for them to get going in a competitive division.

Drury, whose side will host Dulwich Hamlet tonight, said: “It’s a really tough, close, league this year.

“People think just because we have got a good squad we should straight away be at the top of the league. But it doesn’t work like that.

“Once we get consistency in our team, I’m sure we will be okay. We’re only five points off sixth with a game in hand, and there’s some big teams - like Chatham, Dartford and Horsham - that are not where they would want to be.

“I don’t think the league will really settle down until mid-January. Some teams have rebuilt their squads over the summer and that takes time, we’re not the only ones to have done that.

“It’s just about getting a bit of consistency.”

Folkestone are at home to Bognor Regis in the league this weekend and are at Horsham on Tuesday.

They should now have 25-year-old Smith available for both of those fixtures, Invicta confirming they had successfully appealed against the summer recruit's ban.

“We always knew we had a chance,” noted Drury. “I thought it was a ridiculous decision at the time.

“When you slow it down, you can see it’s not a red card. It just goes to show that we were right to appeal it.

“The really frustrating thing is that the game against Dover would have been completely different, had it not been for the red card.”