Hythe Town have gone back to the drawing board after failing to bring in Frannie Collin as a temporary replacement for Stuart Zanone.

Zanone quit Reachfields last week, having made just two appearances for the Cannons, and signed for Greenwich Borough.

With Collin made available for loan by Maidstone, Hythe boss Tim Dixon showed an interest only for the ex-Tonbridge striker to choose Herne Bay instead.

Dixon said: "I spoke to Jay Saunders about it but he said Frannie wouldn’t want to drop down to Ryman South level.

"He’s the sort of player we need but getting players to Hythe is a hard sell right now.

"Herne Bay are near the top of the league. They’re flying at the moment and it’s probably ideal for Frannie. He’s a good player who needs games and I’m sure he’ll prove himself there."

Zanone was a Hythe player for just 11 days. He joined from Ashford on August 28, played league games against Folkestone and Whyteleafe and then told Dixon he was leaving.

Dixon said: "He was disappointed with his performances in the two games. He felt he wasn’t up to Ryman South standard.

"I had that conversation with him and thought he was doing himself an injustice. I thought he should have given it more time.

"He’s done it in the Ryman North before (with Thamesmead) but he did have to come off in one of the games. He came off against Whyteleafe with an ankle injury and he was struggling.

"Then, unbelievably, I got a call from Greenwich saying they were signing Stuart Zanone.

"That’s football, it’s harsh sometimes. If he wants to play somewhere else, he’s not under contract so he’s free to go. I wouldn’t hold onto someone’s registration to be obstructive.

"I wouldn’t have minded if he’d said ‘I want to sign for Greenwich, I can’t handle Ryman South’, that’s fine.

"There’s no animosity. He’s been honest and I’d rather he did that after a couple of games than a month down the line."

Read the full story in the Folkestone & Hythe Express.