Upbeat Whitstable manager Jamie Coyle took plenty of positives from their weekend defeat.

A stop-start beginning to the Southern Counties East League Premier Division season continued for Coyle’s new-look squad with a 2-1 home loss to unbeaten Punjab United.

It means mid-table Whitstable have taken 14 points from 12 league matches so far this campaign.

But there was still plenty of room for optimism despite experienced striker Dean Grant’s first goal in his latest stint at The Belmont coming in vain.

Coyle reflected: “To summarise the day, I think it’s the most positive I’ve ever felt in all my years as a manager after losing a game.

“We controlled the game and dominated in terms of possession. But we conceded two goals from set-pieces and, to be fair to Punjab, they defended for their lives.

“There were huge strides in terms of the way we played. The boys took on board what we have worked on and we deserved a minimum of a draw but Punjab defended really well.

“We just need to turn that possession into more chances in the final third. The players and management team were really positive after the game.

“We have got real quality with Liam Gillies coming back and Mikey Dalton back from injury. They were massive influences in the way we played.

“There were lots of positives we can take.”

Grant broke the deadlock in front of a crowd of 477 in the 13th minute when he lobbed Punjab keeper Owen Bushell.

That lead only lasted seven minutes, though, despite midfielder Ryan Hayes being sin-binned for claiming Grant’s goal should have been ruled out for offside.

Punjab soon turned things around with two goals from corners, Jack Barry heading in after an effort had rebounded off the crossbar and then Cruis Nyadzayo fired a loose ball home.

“When things aren’t quite going your way, it’s those little ricochets that go to the opposition,” said Coyle.

“It happens sometimes when the chips are down.

“But Mikey Dalton was the best player on the pitch by a million miles on Saturday.

“He’s probably not played a full 90 minutes for four or five months so, for him to completely stand out, that was really positive.

“We went around the changing room and there were seven or eight very good performances in the team.

“Usually when you get that, you get three points but, unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.”

Grant recently rejoined from Hollands & Blair while midfielder Gillies also made his Whitstable comeback, having left for Isthmian South East Sheppey this summer before he linked up with Blair for three games - including the FA Vase tie against Whitstable.

Coyle said: “Dean’s a little bit of a fans’ favourite because of his work ethic. I knew that bringing someone in with his work ethic and his experience would help the team.

“It’s the same with Liam Gillies. Those two know the club and know how we want to play.

“Having that kind of experience is key - and they both want to be at Whitstable Town.”

Next up for the Oystermen is a journey to play lower-division Canterbury City tomorrow night in the first round of the Kent Senior Trophy before an FA Vase first-round tie at home to Combined Counties League Premier Division North Virginia Water next weekend.

Coyle said: “We have a game on Friday night against Canterbury at Margate.

“It’s kind of a different challenge, especially playing on a Friday night under the lights. That will be a great fixture.

“Then the Saturday after that, we have a home game in the Vase. The Vase is a competition we want to go as far as we possibly can in.

“There’s no hiding the fact we wanted three points on Saturday to be in a healthier position in the league.

“It will be a tough game against Canterbury City. We will be treating it as a first-team fixture.

“Then, we have got the Vase next weekend and we have signed a lot of players that are cup-tied so we will need to plan around that.

“We will have to prepare for both of those games but we just need to concentrate on ourselves.”