Neil Cugley admits his strikers need to up their game as Folkestone prepare to tackle what the manager has described as a ‘massive’ sequence of fixtures.

Cugley confessed he was bitterly disappointed with Saturday’s 1-1 home draw against 10-man Haringey – a result which saw the hosts toppled as Isthmian Premier leaders by Worthing.

That performance followed a goalless draw at Brightlingsea Regent and Cugley admits Invicta's front men are not firing on all cylinders at the moment

He said: “The forwards have got to start performing again. They were doing well earlier in the season, scoring great goals and causing real problems to teams.

“We were up there as the leading scorers but we’ve just dropped off a little bit.

“My comment is that I don’t ask them to do a lot of defending, they are there to make things happen, score goals and excite the fans.

“We didn’t do that on Saturday. We had a lot of pressure in and around the box and I don’t think our forwards made the most of it.

“I thought Ronnie Dolan and Scott Heard were excellent so they can’t say they did not get the supply.

“I just thought there were times when they maybe took an extra touch, or made the wrong decision.”

Invicta are away to Bognor Regis on Saturday having been due to host the Sussex side in the Velocity Trophy on Tuesday.

That tie was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch and now takes place on Tuesday, January 21.

After that come home games against Corinthian Casuals and Hornchurch (fifth) with a trip to East Thurrock (eighth) followed by games against fourth-placed Carshalton (home), new leaders Worthing (away) and sixth-placed Cray (home).

Cugley said: “We’ve got a massive a run of games coming up, it’s unbelievable and we’re going to need everyone to be at their best, especially the strikers.

“They’re all good players and I’m the first to praise them when they do well.

“They’re the reason we were top but at the moment they’re a little bit off it and they need to rediscover their spark.

“One thing Edgy (assistant manager Roland Edge) said is that when we do have a blip we normally bounce back so hopefully that’s what we’ll do against Bognor.”

Midfielder Sam Hasler (ankle) and defender Matty Newman (groin) could both be back in contention to start on Saturday after injury but full-back Alfie Paxman misses out through suspension.

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