Sittingbourne players cheered when they heard Aslan Odev would be in charge next season.

A run of five wins and two draws in nine games as caretaker manager saw Odev handed the job before Brickies’ game against Carshalton on Saturday.

Chairman Maurice Dunk and secretary John Pitts invited him to stay on and it was then down to Odev to inform the squad.

It proved a popular decision and Sittingbourne beat the champions-elect 3-1, ending their five-month unbeaten record.

Odev said: “John and Mo, the chairman, pulled me before the team-talk and let me know they thought I’d done a good job and would be willing to give it to me for next year.

“I was buzzing when they told me, then I went in and told the players and they all started cheering.

“It was very humbling but it’s credit not only to myself but to the players for what they’ve put in for me, the staff that stayed on after Nick Davis left and to Ian Varley after stepping in as assistant manager.”

Odev turned the corner after starting his caretaker reign with five defeats following Davis’ resignation in January.

He stayed positive and has his rewards, being confirmed as the youngest manager in Bostik South at just 26.

Odev said: “The first five games weren’t ideal but I always backed myself and had confidence in the players and the club to make the right decision, whether it was me or someone else.

“All I could do was work as hard as I can. That was my mentality every time we lost, or something didn’t get our way.

“It wasn’t ‘oh, that’s the end of it,’ - it was just work harder and that’s what I tried to do and thankfully it’s worked in my favour.”

Sittingbourne complete the campaign at Hastings this Saturday, then Odev will push on with plans for next season.

He said: “I will be looking at bringing in some players but I’ll be speaking to the current squad first and seeing what they want to do.

“That will happen after the Hastings game. I don’t want to start putting thoughts in people’s minds before the season’s over.

“I haven’t really got expectations from the board or the fans but I’ve got my own standards and what I believe we can do and where hard work can get you.

“I don’t quite want to say what I’m expecting or what I want but I’ll always strive to be the best and how far we can go is down to the hard work we put in.”