Hythe are waiting to discover the extent of goalkeeper Joe Coleman’s injury.

Coleman was stretchered off with a knee injury during the Cannons’ Isthmian South East game at relegation rivals Littlehampton on Tuesday last week.

Replacement James Dillon made his debut as Hythe claimed their first away win of the season on Saturday, goals from Anthony Adesite and Javaun Splatt earning a 2-1 victory.

But Coleman’s absence is a blow to the Cannons and they’re yet to discover how long he will be out.

“We don’t know the full extent yet,” said manager Nick Davis. “He’s walking, which is good.

“He jarred his right knee. The ball was nowhere near him and he went down.

“You always fear the worst when it’s like that, don’t you?

“He was stretchered off and went to hospital as a precaution.

“There was initial improvement and then it stayed the same, so we don’t know where we’re at.

“He’s going to see someone else and get another opinion.

“We’ll have to wait for it to settle down.

“He’s been brilliant for us, really good.”

Hythe slipped to the foot of the table after losing 5-0 at Littlehampton.

They were a goal down when Coleman went off and while teenager Hayden Wigston impressed in his first senior game, the rampant hosts pulled clear.

But the Cannons gave themselves renewed hope of beating the drop with their victory at fellow strugglers Lancing.

The win moved them up three places to 19th although they dropped to 20th after losing 2-1 at East Grinstead on Tuesday night, Kelvin Ogboe with a late consolation.

Hythe are back at Reachfields for the visit of Deal this Saturday (3pm).

Davis, whose side are six points from safety, said: “We had to win away home eventually, didn’t we?

“We’re hanging in there. We’ve just got to worry about ourselves and get the points we can and see where that takes us.

“It’s all about getting three points.

“We’ve been missing a lot of players, I’m constantly having to put out fires every single game.

“You can’t even enjoy a win because you know there’s a headache to try and bring people in but it is what it is.

“We just have to do everything we can.”

Hythe were missing Louie Procopi, Ollie Gray, Siao Blackwood, Vance Bola and Medy Elito at East Grinstead, along with Coleman, while TT Walters has left for Margate.

Davis has bolstered the squad with several new signings, including striker Harry Heath from Lancing.

He made his debut against his old club at the weekend.

Goalscorers Adesite and Splatt have big roles to play in Hythe’s survival push and the same goes for Heath.

Davis said: “Jav’s going to be key if we stay up, that’s for sure, and Anthony as well.

“We’ve brought Harry in, who’s already got double figures for this league, so he looked a threat.

“He’s the sort of player that finds good positions and he looks to get on the shoulder.

“Hopefully he’ll start scoring for us and Vance Bola isn’t far away from coming back.”

If Hythe can clear some of their defensive injuries, it would also allow them to push Ellis Brown further forward.

He’s been helping out at full-back but is a winger by trade.

“We’ve had to play Ellis out of position at right-back, when we need him as an attacking option,” said Davis.

“He scored four goals for us early on but because of where we’re at and where we’re struggling for cover, he’s been doing a brilliant job at right-back and left-back as well.

“It’s not ideal but hopefully we can get one or two back and then push him further forward because we need goals to win games of football.”