Hythe boss Tim Dixon has promised to handle Sam Conlon with care as the striker makes his comeback from a nasty town centre attack.

Conlon had his jaw broken when he was assaulted in Ashford on October 4 and Dixon expected to be without his services for up to four months.

However, the forward was back in the Cannons squad on Saturday – just eight weeks after the incident – and he even marked his return by scoring against Herne Bay.

Dixon said: "That was a big bonus, Sam coming on for the last 10 minutes and getting a goal.

"It was a little bit ahead of schedule and I didn’t want to use him but the squad was that thin that I decided to put him on.

"He’s a good lad and he didn’t switch off at all (while he was injured). He’s been focused.

"I said to him at training on Thursday ‘if I need to put you on, will you be OK?’ and he said ‘I’ll be fine, gaffer, put me on.’

"The game was going away from us and I decided to change it a little bit.

"The doctor said last week that in a couple of weeks he’d be back to normal. He’s ahead of schedule and feels OK in himself.

"He was always going to be wary for a little while (after what happened). He seems to have put it to the back of his mind but we’ve got to be careful with him because he’s a valuable commodity."

Read the full story in the Folkestone & Hythe Express.