Sittingbourne manager Chris Lynch believes Isthmian South East is one of the toughest leagues around.

The Brickies were challenging for a play-off spot as recently as January but a run of eight defeats in nine games has left them 16th going into Saturday’s derby at Herne Bay.

Lynch never expected a collapse on that scale but his first full season in charge has been an eye-opener.

Speaking before Tuesday night's 2-1 defeat at Haywards Heath, he said: “I’ve learnt a lot this season and I have to say I think this league and the SCEFL Premier are two of the hardest leagues out there at these levels right now.

“The run we’ve been on shows me we really got it right at the start of the season, right up until the start of February, but things have gone wrong for a number of reasons.

“It shows what can happen in this league if you go on a poor run. We’ve had injuries to three key players then we’re getting constant seven-day approaches for our players because teams know we’re not in the play-off picture any more.

“Ultimately, unless you contract all your players, how you can stop them moving on to a club at the top end of the league or a higher level unless you offer them an obscene amount of money?

“You can’t and you wouldn’t want to because, ultimately, I’m all about what’s best for the player and you want to do right by them. Unless you contract players, anyone can take them at any time.

“The trouble with contracts is you have to pay people whether you’ve played or not and with the amount of postponements we’ve had in the last three or four weeks, we’d run out of money and the club would be out of business.

“I think a lot of people underestimate how difficult the job is unless you’ve got quite big money behind you as a club.

“It’s a difficult challenge but it’s one we all know about as managers and we do our best to make the right decisions.”

Winger Kane Phillip is the latest player to depart Sittingbourne, with his final appearance coming off the bench in a 3-0 defeat at Phoenix Sports on Tuesday last week.

But a familiar face has returned with central defender Josh Spencer rejoining from Whitstable.

Lynch said: “Josh was with us last season and the start of this season.

“We wanted him to go out and get some games at this level as we’d settled on our back four.

“He’s done that and we’re happy to have him back as we build for next season.”

Sittingbourne host Sevenoaks in a rearranged game on Tuesday.

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