Sittingbourne manager Ryan Maxwell has outlined Mitchell May’s journey to bigger things.

May, the Brickies’ 13-goal leading scorer, has already been watched by Football League scouts.

At 6ft3in, and only 21, the striker has plenty of potential.

Boss Maxwell is ready to help him all the way.

“Mitchell has just got to keep his head down,” he said.

“At the minute he’s in a good vein of form but we can all lose that pretty quickly. You take it game by game.

“Mitchell is a talented boy but he needs to make sure this talent doesn’t fizzle out and that he’s consistent, keeps improving and keeps pushing all the time.

“I had a little chat with him on Saturday and I said to him when you come to training, try and get better at one thing and focus on getting 1% better every time I see you.

“He’s well aware the hard work has just started.

“Strikers get a lot of attention when they score goals. The key is not to believe that and to get your head down and keep working hard.”

Maxwell has seen former team-mates make the jump from non-league into the professional game.

Strikers have the best chance of making it, with everyone looking for a hidden gem who can find the net.

Maxwell said: “I look at boys I’ve played with who’ve gone on to the Football League and Steve Morison and Aaron McLean would be two to name.

“They’re both forwards and it’s always forwards who get the first opportunity because scoring a goal is the hardest thing to do in the game.

“For the midfielder who doesn’t score but conducts the game, makes great tackles and is good on the ball, it’s harder even though you could easily go and play in the league.

“Clubs will always take a chance on a player scoring a lot of goals. It’s a numbers game. If you’re scoring goals you’ll get recognition and attention.

“To crack it, you need consistency. Everyone can have a good spell but do you follow it up with another good spell and another one?

“Mentality is the No.1 attribute to have. Loads of players have good spells but they fizzle out. A lot of that is down to mental strength.

“Also, it’s are you coachable and athleticism comes into as well.

“If we take Mitch, at 6ft3in, he can run but he can still get quicker; he’s strongish but he can still get stronger and will get stronger.”

Sittingbourne, third in Isthmian South East, have been hit by successive postponements.

Their midweek match at Littlehampton was called off, to the surprise of both teams.

Saturday’s game at Hythe also fell victim to the weather.

The Littlehampton call-off was hugely frustrating, with fans in the ground and the teams itching to play.

Maxwell said: “For the pitch to be totally playable and for one man to deem it not to be was gutting.

“There were one or two patches where the ball wasn’t bouncing naturally.

“I was told it was the referee’s first game at the level and maybe he was a bit apprehensive.

“I can understand that because he hasn’t got the experience to know that once you run over these areas that are only a little bit questionable, the pitch becomes more playable.

“There was no more rain coming down. He said it was about safety, which I know is the word they all use, but I’ve played in many games where pitches were an awful lot worse than that and there was no risk from my point of view or the other manager’s.

“I’m not here to be judge, jury and executioner.

“It was just my opinion but the only opinion different to that was the referee’s and he’s the one who makes the decisions.

“The pitch was soft but the ball was travelling over the surface perfectly, as I demonstrated by kicking a few balls over the areas he was concerned about.

“It wasn’t going to be an issue. I’m sure he’ll make a different decision in time unfortunately he made the decision he did last week.”

Sittingbourne host East Grinstead on Saturday (3pm).