Canterbury City manager Dave Fairclough is confident his star players will remain loyal to the club.

Royston Gough scored six goals as Canterbury thrashed Lydd Town 9-1 in the Les Leckie Cup on Saturday.

The striker attracted interest from a number of clubs during the summer but decided to stay in an effort to help Canterbury secure promotion from Vandanel Kent County League, Division 1 East.

Fairclough said: “Royston had a couple of attractive offers to go to Kent League Premier Division clubs and also Ryman League sides.

“He thought long and hard about it but was happy to stay with Canterbury because of the vision the club has got.

“Four or five players had offers to go and play at a higher level but they have shown a desire to stay with the club and take us forward.

“At the moment our whole first-team squad has shown a real desire and passion for the club. We train as hard as any Ryman League side.”

Canterbury return to league action with a home game against New Romney on Saturday.

Fairclough added: “On their day they are capable of beating anyone. They haven’t had the best start and the problem they have had is inconsistency. On our day we are good enough to beat anyone but we mustn’t allow ourselves to get complacent.

“I want us to win our last two league games before Christmas so that we can go into the new year in a healthy position.”

The Canterbury boss will introduce two players from the under-18s side into his first-team squad in January.

He added: “We’ve got a couple of cup games and I’ll be looking to bring in Dan Langiano and Adam Woollcott.

“They have come in on a couple of occasions and showed that they are capable of playing at this level. If you are good enough, then you are old enough.”