A familiar face is expected to return to his old stomping ground on Monday as Folkestone host rivals Margate.

Striker David Smith recently joined Gate on loan from National League Bromley for the rest of the season after scoring 35 goals last term at Cheriton Road.

Invicta joint-head coach Roland Edge is only too aware of the 23-year-old’s prowess - albeit he’s yet to net for his new club.

But Edge hopes his current crop can help keep Smith quiet in the Isthmian Premier derby (3pm).

“Dave wants to play at the highest level he can play at,” said Edge.

“That, for now, equates to him putting the ball in the net against us! Our boys are well aware of what he does and how he does it.

“They’ll know they will have to be playing at the top of their game to deal with it but, hopefully, we do.”

Manager-less Gate parted company with ex-Folkestone midfielder Andy Drury as their boss after a Boxing Day 3-0 home loss to Cray Wanderers, leaving assistant Reece Prestedge and captain Ben Greenhalgh in temporary charge.

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Mid-table Folkestone are six points ahead of Margate, albeit they have played a game more. Edge is now looking to see Invicta climb the table with the club out of all cup competitions this season.

The 44-year-old said: “All of the fun of the cups has gone, so to speak. Now, we have got to focus on the league.

“To be honest, that was our focus at the start of the season. We’re not quite where we want to be.

“We know what Margate are going to do.

"They’ll be awkward and have a lot of talent so we’ll need to be up for that, mentally and physically, in order to win.”

Long-serving right-back Josh Vincent returned to the starting line-up for their 2-1 derby success at Herne Bay on Boxing Day, replacing versatile Robbie Dolan.

“Our decision there is between Robbie and JV, and Robbie has done ever so well,” said Edge, who has also brought in Pat Ohman and Joe Coleman to fill the void left by the departure of keeper Bailey Vose.

“But on Monday, we chose JV.

"It’s never nice to leave someone out but I hope Robbie is aware of what we think of him. He’s a good player.”

Winger Kadell Daniel missed the Herne Bay match through injury, although he isn’t expected to be a long-term absentee.

Edge explained: “Kadell has had an ongoing ankle problem. He’s been playing through it and felt he wasn’t doing himself justice.

“So he had a little chat with us and we said ‘Yeah no problem, get it right’.

“It might take a week or 10 days but, sometimes, you don’t do yourself any favours by playing so we kind of respect that.

“He should be back on January 2 or maybe the game after that so it shouldn’t be too long.”