By Joe Harbert

Canterbury City boss Chris Woollcott believes it is simply ‘a matter of time’ before his side show their true colours this season.

The Salters Lane outfit have made a disappointing start to their campaign with five defeats from five in all competitions.

Yet Woollcott, who has only been managing the club since December and has also witnessed the departure of former joint-boss Josh Hall last month, says he has seen enough from his team in patches to suggest they will be moving up the Southern Counties East League table soon.

“It’s been disappointing so far in terms of our points tally, but we’ve played some good sides and looked good in spells,” he said.

“Our first game against Welling was poor, but during the game at Sheppey we could have been 3-0 up - we played well and created an unbelievable amount of chances, but their quality shone through right at the end despite it not being a typical 4-1 game.

“It was the same sort of story against Hollands & Blair with regards to missing opportunities, and then against Corinthian they also took advantage of that, so taking our chances is something that has definitely been our undoing.

“But we’ve been good in parts, albeit not for a whole game, so while we can’t be happy with taking zero points, the potential is there because there’s been some encouraging signs.

“We haven’t been able to put a consistent team out so far either, so I’m certain that after ten games we won’t be in the position in the table that we are now. I’m confident that it’s only a matter of time before we properly get going.

“Towards the back end of last year, we started to see signs that we could compete at a high level in this league, and that squad definitely isn’t as good as the one we have now.

“So I’m not going to panic and make wholesale changes - we started training quite late, and could have also put decent teams to bed like Hollands & Blair in the first half.

“We’ve defended alright in general too for the most part, in what is a young defence with a goalkeeper in Charlie Wealands who is just 18 and has probably been our best player so far this season.”

Woollcott admits it’s now crucial they start picking up points, starting with Saturday’s trip to lowly AFC Croydon.

“I think the next few games will be big for us and we’re going to continue to aim as high as possible,” he added.

“I’m not saying we’re going to be competing with sides like Chatham and Sheppey, but we want to be looking up to that end of the table rather than down.

“So we’re taking each game as it comes and trying to win every one, and with the squad we have I believe we’re capable of being a top eight or a top ten side.

“Saturday at Croydon is an opportunity to get a win under our belts and get some momentum going.

“It’s become an important game with the start we’ve had to get some points on the board, and the boys know that.

“We don’t know a massive amount about whether they’ve made massive changes or not, but we know what to expect after playing them towards the back end of last season, so that’s why we have to play well and try to kick on.”

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