Former Faversham manager James Collins rates Benedict Bioletti as one of the best youngsters he has worked with.

The versatile defender has joined League 2 Colchester having already made 38 first-team appearances for the Isthmian South East club.

Collins, who has left Faversham for Isthmian Premier Bowers & Pitsea, gave him his debut in 2020 before Bioletti, who turns 18 this month, quickly became a first-team regular.

“For his age, I would put him up there with anyone that I have managed,” said ex-Chatham, Cray Valley and Lordswood boss Collins.

“His understanding of the game is so impressive for the age he’s at.

"He’s, obviously, a very good player but he understands the game, he reads the game and he has such a good attitude.

“He’s well-grounded and has got a good family behind him so he’s got every chance. I really hope he kicks on.

“I would say he’s up there with probably the best young player I have ever worked with.

“He’s such a lovely lad, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer player. His attitude was absolutely spot-on all season.

“He played through injuries, he got kicked from pillar to post, and he was our most consistent player for me.

"I thought he was absolutely outstanding.”

Collins says Brian Flynn, who remains with the club and has been heavily involved with the youth set-up but recently stepped down from the board, deserves much of the credit for Bioletti’s rise.

“It was in lockdown,” Collins recalled of Bioletti’s first-team bow in a 4-1 FA Trophy win over Hertford Town.

“Brian Flynn has to take a lot of the credit - if not all the credit - for it. He headed the youth section.

“I remember when I first came to the club Benny was getting treatment, and I think he might have been 14 at the time.

"Brian said ‘This lad will play for the first-team’ so he rated him that highly.

“In pre-season in the lockdown, Brian said he really rated him and he had played all through the levels at that point. So he did pre-season with us and played some friendlies.

“He did okay but we then dropped him down to the under-18s and the under-23s.

“Then we had a Trophy game against Hertford. We went and watched them, and they were full of youngsters so we threw Benny in straight away with the first-team and he didn’t look back from there.

“We ended up playing him in the 10 last year. He set up a goal against VCD in his first year and has gone from strength-to-strength, really.

"Most of the credit goes to Brian but credit to him as well. He came in and we couldn’t leave him out.”

Collins also explained how uncertainty at Salters Lane after the departure of chairman Paul Bennett meant he simply couldn’t turn down the chance to manage Bowers & Pitsea.

“That’s nothing against the new owners. I know Marc [Leader, vice-chairman] and Gary [Smart, chairman] but they hadn’t come in at that time,” he added.

“I felt there was no security for me and there were rumours I was getting sacked anyway, although that coincided with lots of changes.

“Bowers did everything they could to get me and, at the end of the day, I decided that’s something I wanted to be part of.”

Collins also hit back at comments made about the club’s 12th-placed finish last season - by new joint-manager John Embery and players who have since departed - after the club’s injury-hit campaign.

He said: “I wasn’t overly-impressed that John Embery said ‘the last couple of years have not been that productive’ when people at the club have worked tirelessly to keep the club going.

“The players absolutely gave me and the club everything in a season where we were decimated by injuries.

“We actually ended up finishing the season three points off the top 10 so I find that disrespectful.

“Some of the players have said it wasn’t a good season as well.

“Well, that’s disrespectful to everyone who works so hard at the club - like the people behind the bar down to the kitman and the physio. So I have been a little bit disappointed with a couple of the comments that have been made.

“I think the club has done incredibly well to keep going and be sustainable through lockdown.

“We moved the club on and people took money out their pockets to move the club on so, to say it wasn’t productive, I think the board, committee and management team that have left have actually left the club in a very good position.

“I fully expect the club to kick on with the new owners.”

Town, who signed former Woking midfielder Nathan Wood this week, visit Margate on Tuesday in their first pre-season friendly.