Ryan King has earned himself a place at Herne Bay after impressing manager Ben Smith in pre-season.

The 20-year-old midfielder, who played at Greenwich Borough last season, has featured in three of the club’s five friendlies so far this summer.

This includes Tuesday’s 5-2 win over Erith & Belvedere, in which new signing Zak Ansah scored four to chalk up his second hat-trick since arriving at Winch’s Field.

Smith said: “I wouldn’t say we’ve had trialists as such, there are players we’ve brought in that have had a look at us and we’ve had a look at them.

“We’ve come to an agreement with Ryan King, he was at Greenwich and is an ex-Crystal Palace youth team player.

“He’s another real exciting talent that we’ve brought to the club and he’s another player that is going to get fans off their seats.

“He plays anywhere in midfield, he brings a lot of flair, can go past players and brings a lot of skill and energy. He’s certainly one for the attacking side of the game that’s for sure.”

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With marquee signings through the door and a strong show of support from fans, Smith admits he is pleased with how things have panned out since his appointment.

He added: “It’s been quite positive really, we’re a bit further ahead than we thought we might be as a club on and off the pitch.

“Four weeks ago, if you said we’d have the players we’ve got in and the work going on off the pitch with the supporters involved we’d have been really happy.

“It’s the little things that have really impressed me about the club, a couple of supporters were giving up their evenings to come in and do some work in the changing rooms to make them really smart for the players.

“Things like that haven’t gone unnoticed, those little things are going to hopefully bring every facet of the club together because in the past it’s been quite fractious at Herne Bay.

“The fact the supporters are on board and engaged with the group that have taken over the club and the signings gives us a real platform to start on.”

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Laurence Harvey joined Ansah on the scoresheet on Tuesday as Bay returned to winning ways following Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Margate.

Smith said: “It’s a weird one, we lost against Margate on Saturday but I was quietly confident with what I saw. Before that I would have maybe said we were two weeks behind schedule of where we want to be.

“We’ve done an awful lot in the four weeks we’ve been at the club and sometimes that can take its toll. But the performance at Margate showed me we’re a lot closer to what I want to see in our team than what I might have thought before that.”

Bay are due to face Rochester United at home on Saturday, before hosting Witham Town on August 3.

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