400 up for Whyte at Bognor Regis Town – now he wants to play one more game than Crane

Nye Camp skipper Whyte chalked up 400 games for the Rocks in the 2-1 loss at Carshalton Athletic on Monday. He made his debut in 2012 in a 1-1 home draw with Folkestone Invicta on loan from Havant & Waterlooville before joining permanently in 2013 and has gone on to be a hugely popular figure at the club, on and off the pitch. He has scored 31 goals during his career in green and white.

It's no coincidence that Bognor's recent run of form -- just one defeat in six games -- has come about since the return from injury of versatile Whyte, whose industry and experience are vital, says Blake.

He said: "Congratulations on the skipper reaching 400 games for the club, a great achievement and I hope he goes on to make many, many more appearances for us. He epitomises all you want in a player and as a man and that is why he is captain of this football club."

Whyte told the Observer he was delighted to make the milestone — and now has his eyes set on overtaking former Rocks ace James Crane’s appearances. He reached 500 before moving to Horndean. The skipper joked: “It’s a real honour to make this many appearances for the club. I’ll make one more than Craney then pack it all in!”

Crane on why he left Bognor.

Whyte's influence couldn't stretch to helping the visitors to a victory at Colston Avenue. Blake says he wants his charges to suck it up and go again against the Ks and put behind them a lacklustre display against the Robins.

He added: "We can't keep a clean sheet for love nor money. Against Carshalton our hold-up play was poor and we looked disjointed up front and lackadaisical in the middle of the park. There wasn't enough athleticism and not enough bravery. We need to bounce back.

"But one defeat in six games is a great achievement and so we can't be too unhappy that we didn't get something. It's not too often you can say a team has outfought us and shown a mentality to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and dig in to earn the victory but I thought that, in essence, that is what they did.

“I thought we played okay in patches but without the energy and desire that we have had of late. It's been a busy period and perhaps fatigue played a part. We've proved we can score goals – and by the way you will struggle to see a better strike than the one smashed home by Joe Rabbets against Carshalton – but our defending must improve and we are conceding far too many goals.

"What we can take from the recent run of fine form is that it is clear we have a togetherness that counts for a lot – and I feel we have strength in depth too. We feel that our bench is strong now and that we can try to change games with the impact a substitution can make. And with a busy period ahead of us, we will definitely need everyone ready, willing and able to play their part. After Kingstonian, we head to Hornchurch in what will be another tough test but we are relishing the challenge game by game.”

*Harvey Whyte statistics courtesy of Andrew Relton.

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