Faversham Town manager Steve Watt expects new signing Troy Howard to quickly become a crowd favourite.

Howard set up a goal for Eniye Amgbaduba on his debut as the Lilywhites fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Isthmian South East leaders South Park last weekend.

And the winger, who’s joined from Welling, scored his first Town goal in a 1-1 draw at Cray Valley on Tuesday night.

Howard, set to face former club Sittingbourne at Woodstock this Saturday (3pm), was a key part of the Wings side who pulled off a great escape from relegation last season.

A pre-season knee injury limited his involvement this term, though, and manager Ryan Maxwell allowed him to join Faversham, a move which sees him reunited with Watt, who worked with the player at Hythe.

Howard provides goals, assists and pace down the right flank and should prove a major asset for the Lilywhites.

“Troy’s a great player,” said Watt. “I’ve got a lot of history with Troy.

“We spoke when he came back for the first FA Cup game against Welling (1-1 draw at Salters Lane in August).

“He’d just come back from injury and I said to him, if you feel like you need minutes, or Maxy feels you need minutes, we’ll always be here, give us a shout.

“That’s what materialised and we’re grateful to Maxy for his help to get the deal done and we’re pleased to have Troy in the building.

“He gives us something different in terms of what we’ve got going forward.

“He set up the first goal on Saturday with a great delivery and got man-of-the-match and showed what he’s going to be about.

“He’s a really important signing for us and it won’t take long for him to be a fans’ favourite.

“Welling have been flying and he’s not played as much as he would have liked but that’s to our benefit.

“At the same time, it’s important we get him up to speed in the right way, not too many minutes, too fast.”

It’s fifth versus sixth when Sittingbourne host Faversham in the Swale derby.

The Brickies have achieved three successive play-off finishes, reaching a final and two semi-finals, and are looking to take the next step in Reece Prestedge’s first full season in charge.

The fixture will be a good barometer for Watt to judge his new-look side’s progress.

“It’ll be a great game,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of tough games coming up but these types of games, the boys rise to the occasion.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s always been a good game.

“They’ve had success over the last few seasons, so it’s good to go there against a team that’s been up there and is expected to be up there to measure ourselves and see how we’re going to be.”

Not for the first time this season, Faversham showed character in spades to fight back against leaders South Park.

Two down early in the second half, substitute Amgbaduba launched the recovery and Tommie Fagg levelled with a 96th-minute penalty.

“We’ve done it so many times this season, gone behind and come back,” said Watt, who takes Faversham to Deal next Tuesday (7.45pm).

“The players showed again they’re a team that won’t give up and will keep going to the very end, which you need over the course of the season.

“The character and effort of the boys, I can never question because this team is never out of any fight.

“We have the firepower and the quality and the will to get back into any game, but we need to stop putting ourselves in that position.

“That’s the disappointing part, we’ve put ourselves in that position too many times this year.

“We’ve got to find a way to stop putting ourselves in that situation and then hopefully we can be the ones that go two and three-nil up because once we’re in that position and teams have to open up and come out, it changes the game for us.”

Howard gave Faversham a half-time lead at Cray Valley on Tuesday night but Marvel Ekpiteta levelled just after the break.

Lilywhites striker Ibrahim Olutade has joined AFC Whyteleafe on a 28-day loan.

He could make his debut tomorrow against Dartford, who are managed by Ben Greenhalgh, his old boss at Margate.