Ira Jackson took plenty of encouragement from Hythe’s display against Whitstable on Sunday.

The Cannons lost 2-1 to their high-flying opponents but boss Jackson saw the performance as further evidence his young side are on the right track.

A big crowd of 450 - boosted by the Southern Counties East League Premier Division’s groundhopper weekend - saw Ashdon Day head Whitstable in front just after half-time.

The Cannons hit back immediately through Steadman Callender’s first goal for the club - a lovely header - but a mistake was punished as Mikey Dalton scored the winner.

“It was a great performance minus a mistake or two,” said Jackson.

“I can’t fault the boys for the performance.

“They did everything we wanted them to do.

“Second half, we got a little bit leggy and sat a little bit deeper and they bombarded our goal but we dealt with most of it. It was just one mistake that undid it at the end.

“But to be able to perform like that, if we can build on that and improve on that, it was a good sign of the progress that’s within the squad and where we want to get to.

“It was another game where we were without players but it was closer to the first XI.

“A draw was probably fair in terms of a result but football isn’t fair.

“A game is won on moments and we gave them one and they took the other, so they came out worthy winners.

“It was always going to be difficult but we can take heart from the performance.

“I wish we could have scored more but we have to take the incremental progress that came in this game.

“Everybody stuck together, everybody stuck to the structure, we played some good football at times, we scored a good goal but still those fine margins at the moment we’re not getting any let-up on.”

Injuries are easing, while the holiday season - Hythe have had a number of players away at various times - seems to be tailing off.

It means Jackson is finally close to having a full first-team squad to pick from, while also keeping an eye on the market for further additions.

“We’re facing everything that could possibly be thrown at us,” said Jackson.

“All sorts of stuff that could go wrong has gone wrong.

“But it just gives me more confidence and positivity that we’re facing all these challenges at an early stage of the season so we can build and grow together and weed out any unnecessary characters that might be in the building.

“We’re looking forward to when we do fully come out the other side of this and go on a great run.

“We’re still positive, we’re still working and we know, come crunch time at the end of the season, we’ll be exactly where we need to be.

“And where we need to be is where this group should be in terms of the reality and the context of what we have to do this year. That’s the plan and we’ll work towards that.”

Hythe host Sutton Athletic in the Kent Senior Trophy first round this Saturday (3pm).

Jackson is due to speak to Hendon about on-loan goalkeeper Frankie Beckles, who’s been away on international duty with the British Virgin Islands.

He missed the Whitstable game, with under-23s keeper Felix Mortimore taking his place.

“Frankie’s been here for a month, so we’ll have a discussion to see what the plan is,” said Jackson.

“If we need to use Felix or get another goalkeeper in until Dan Kennedy returns, we’ll do so.”

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