Manager Andy Drury insists there is still plenty for Folkestone’s troops to play for this season.

Invicta’s Isthmian Premier play-off hopes are all but over after a run of three consecutive away defeats.

They have shipped plenty of goals, too, losing 3-2 at in-form Cray Wanderers last weekend - six days after a 5-3 loss at Hashtag United.

“It’s important now they put in some performances and stand up and are counted,” said Drury. “The players have got a lot to play for because they get looked after really well.

“The chairman (Josh Healey) is brilliant, the fans are brilliant, and it’s up to us now to put some results together as a team.

“They need to stand up, be counted and to have a good end to the season, and we’ll see where it takes us.”

While it would take a monstrous run for 10th-placed Folkestone to break into the top five, Drury is refusing to throw in the towel just yet.

He said: “It’s a tough ask, but we will keep going.

“We will not give up until it’s mathematically impossible.”

Drury’s men were defeated at Flamingo Park despite a goal in either half from forward Matthias Fanimo and midfielder Luke Allen, with the hosts also down to 10 men from the 39th minute after Wands captain Frankie Raymond was dismissed in front of a 418-strong crowd for a tackle on Allen.

Drury reflected: “I thought we gave away two sloppy goals - both headers, both unmarked, and we haven’t defended our box well enough.

“To be fair, their third goal is a great finish from the lad (Josh Williams), but we need to block the shot.

“We’re scoring goals and playing some good football at times but, ultimately, in the last two games, we have scored five and conceded eight.

“So, we’ve just not defended well enough.”

A lack of shut-outs has been a running theme throughout Folkestone’s season, derailing their play-off prospects.

“Jonny (Henly) has done well in goal but we haven’t had enough clean sheets as a whole,” Drury accepted.

“Even against Canvey, we won 4-2, but we conceded twice when they were down to 10 men. Ultimately, we’ve not kept enough clean sheets - the stats don’t lie.

“If you come away from 31 league games and you have got seven clean sheets, that’s not good enough. It’s something we need to look at and look at quickly.

“If you keep clean sheets, you have a good chance of winning games and, if you don’t, it becomes very tough.”

Guyana international full-back Miquel Scarlett has joined Invicta in a bid to strengthen their back-line as the 24-year-old made a substitute appearance at Cray.

Drury said: “He became available towards the back-end of last week.

“He’s a player that I like and we worked out a deal straight away.

“We need to find a way of keeping clean sheets and that’s why we have brought him in.”

And Drury is open to making more defensive reinforcements - ahead of this weekend’s home match against Potters Bar - even if it means some players need to head for the exit door.

“We’re looking at our options,” he said. “If there’s an opportunity to do something, then we’ll do it. We’ll see if we can bring someone in to strengthen us.

“We might need to move one or two out, but they have had enough chances and I think it’s important we have a strong finish to the season.”

At the other end of the pitch, top scorer Dan Smith made his comeback against Cray after a month-long absence.

Drury revealed: “He hasn’t trained, as well.

“We had to play him on Saturday because Ade (Yusuff) had a couple of issues and we didn’t know if he would get to the game.

“Smithy is not fully-fit but, hopefully, we can get another training session into him on Thursday.”

Drury also commented on the departure of Danny Kedwell, the 41-year-old briefly working with Drury again at Cheriton Road, before he took on the top job at Isthmian South East AFC Croydon Athletic.

“He helped us out for a couple of weeks but he got a good offer and we wish him all the best with that,” said Drury.

“Hopefully, he does well at Croydon.”

Folkestone’s scheduled home match against Chichester tonight has been postponed after a pitch inspection.