Sittingbourne are looking to finish the job after Johan Caney-Bryan’s double earned an FA Cup reprieve.

The Brickies, down to 10 men after Michael Akin’s red card, were facing a preliminary round exit when Littlehampton went 2-0 up at Woodstock on Saturday.

But Caney-Bryan struck twice in four minutes, midway through the second half, to set up a replay tonight.

Boss Darren Blackburn said: “I’m pleased for Johan. He does so much work outside the box.

“He links play, wins headers and holds the ball up as well as most in our league.

“It’s just the finishing he needs to add to his game, that composure in the box so he becomes a one-in-two or a one-in-three chance man.

“He knows that himself, he’s mid-20s now and if he wants to kick on, that’s what he has to do.

“No one was happier than me when he scored his goals. Just as we went 2-0 down I was looking at a triple change and he was one of the players I was thinking of taking off.

“I was thinking do we need more mobility up there, has he run his legs, but then I felt we should stick with him and he repaid our faith in abundance.”

Bad defending cost Sittingbourne as Shay Wiggans and Joe Benn struck either side of Akin’s red card.

But Blackburn’s side, 4-0 winners over Lancing on the opening day of the league season, showed another side to their game to fight back.

“I don’t know about the red card,” said Blackburn.

“I was looking down contemplating subs at the time but he’s an honest lad and I’m told he had his eye on the ball.

“We’re seeing a lot more let go this season and it might be that the red card has been given based on last season’s refereeing style.

"The red card’s not cost us the game, it was not putting the ball in the net in the first half that did that.

“But the lads dug in and I saw a different side to them.

“I knew the quality they had on the pitch and I’ve now seen the character they’ve got to fight back from 2-0 down with 10 men. That’s what I expect from my teams.”

Sittingbourne will host Whitehawk in the first qualifying round on September 4 if they beat Littlehampton.

They’re already playing the Hawks in Isthmian South East this Saturday, with Ahmed Abdulla returning to his former club, and that’s followed by the Swale derby at home to Faversham on Tuesday night.

Blackburn said: “If we can get a result in the cup and again on Saturday, we’ll be doing well.

“We’ve caused our own problems a bit and we have to get ourselves out of it.

“It’s always difficult to get anything at Whitehawk. I’m sure Abs is looking forward to going back. I’m not sure why they didn’t re-sign him but he’s our player now and we’ve made him our vice-captain.

“The Faversham one will be a tough derby to follow two tough away trips but if lads want to play at this level, you’ve got to be prepared, physically and mentally.”

Read more: The latest sports news in Kent