Club captain Liam Friend expects Folkestone Invicta’s squad to stick together and fight for promotion back to the Ryman League Premier Division.

The 25-year-old defender has been with the club for 12 years and has made 377 appearances during seven-and-a-half seasons in the first-team.

Friend has been relegated twice and promoted once during his time with Folkestone, who now need £10,000 to cover the players’ wages for the next two months.

And the skipper’s experience of both the good times and the bad at Cheriton Road means he isn’t fazed by the latest financial headlines coming out of the club.

Friend said: "Some people in the team probably just turn up and do what they can on a Saturday but some people do take an interest (in what’s happening off the pitch) and I’m one of them.

"But when you’ve been playing non-league football for as long as I have, you know that one week you’re here and one week you’re there. You’ve got to learn to get on with that.

"I’ve been at the club when, after a game, it looked like near enough the whole team were going to be leaving. We’ve been through worse times, so with the efforts of the people behind the scenes, I’m sure it won’t be too much of a problem."

He added: "We’ve had better individuals (at Folkestone) before but this is probably the best team we’ve had.

"I’ve played with some good players, like Jimmy Jackson, but at the moment we seem to have a lot of consistent performers in the squad, which must be nice for the management. Cugs has got a team which he knows is going to do what he asks."

Folkestone, who occupy the final play-off spot in Division 1 South, entertain ninth-placed Burgess Hill Town on Saturday.