After parting ways with Faversham, striker Stuart King insists he has not ‘thrown his toys out of the pram’ and understands the decision to bench him.

The 28-year-old forward left Salters Lane on Saturday having played just 12 minutes off the bench in Town’s 1-0 win against Sittingbourne – his second straight game out of the starting XI.

King however denied there had been a falling out with Turner and revealed: “I have got 100% respect for (boss) Ray Turner and (assistant) Clive Walker – they are up there with the best managers I have had.

"It’s a great club and they are doing things the right way. I really enjoyed my time there and wish them all the luck in the world."

He added: "I know people will jump to conclusions and think I’ve thrown my toys out of the pram because I’m not playing and say I didn’t want to fight for my place.

“I’ve spent the last couple of games on the bench, and four of the last six. I have no problem with that. The thing was more that I wasn’t going to get the chance with the way that Ray has changed the system.

"They are effective with what they’re doing. Ray’s got to do what’s best for the club and I totally respect that.

"They would have to change the whole system back to play to my strengths and to me that didn’t make sense so I think this is best for both parties.”

Turner revealed: “We are a bit disappointed but Stuart has decided his future lies elsewhere. All the players have had a spell on the bench and I pick the team on merit. We have pushed Charley Robertson further forward and Liam King and Renford Tenyue deserve their chance.”

Despite being linked with a host of Kent clubs this week, Stuart King insists he does not know where his future lies but says he wants to be more than a ‘back-up’ striker and still has what it takes to be the leading scorer in Ryman League, Division 1 South.

He said: “The way things are, I could easily have been sat on the bench for the next six weeks and maybe got a couple of starts here and there.

“It’s a short career at this level and that’s all time I could be playing and scoring somewhere else.”

He added: “I just think that at the age of 28 there’s still more to me than being a back-up striker or a Plan B if you need a goal with 20 minutes left.

“I believe I could win the Golden Boot at this level if I’m playing regularly and I could have got 20 or 25 this season if I played consistently.”

King claimed: “I honestly don’t know what comes next. We’ll just have to wait and see what opportunities there are for me.

“I’m not getting any younger and though I wasn’t scoring goals at the start of the season, I have been getting goals and personally feel I have not done a lot wrong recently. I am a goalscorer. I just want to play and score goals.”

King distanced himself from the ‘bad apple’ tag which followed him around earlier in his career, adding: “I know I have had a lot of moves, particularly when I was younger - I had a bit of a bad attitude and maybe people thought of me as a bad apple."

King’s 30 goals fired Whitstable to the Kent League title in 2006/07 and earned a move to Ramsgate and then Herne Bay but it was his prolific form for Folkestone - 44 goals in 47 games - which earned him an ill-fated move to Maidstone in November 2012.

The Herne Bay-based player admitted: “The move to Maidstone ruined me. I was just smashing them in at Folkestone but the move came at the wrong time. I was in and out of the team and the truth is, it did me.

“It was only years later that I realised how much of an effect it had. It stopped me playing in a way that came naturally.”

A return to Folkestone and a second stint at Bay followed before King joined Faversham in March to help their promotion-push, which ultimately ended in play-off semi-final heartache, with King himself missing the crucial spot-kick in Town’s shootout exit against Merstham.

He added: "I have worked hard to change (people's opinion) over the past few years. It’s annoying because you look at all these teams (I have played for) and people think it’s just me ticking another one off the list.”

He added: “I have fallen in love with the game again since I have been at Faversham but I just want to play. All the while I am able to play, I want to be playing and scoring goals.”