A Swale derby double would be the perfect boost for Sittingbourne after a difficult couple of months.

The Brickies, 1-0 winners at Sheppey in August, host their local rivals in an all-ticket match at Woodstock on Tuesday (1pm).

Beat the Ites again and it will be a first win in nine games for Nick Davis’ side, who have dropped from second to 18th in Isthmian South East since their 3-1 victory at Cray Valley in October.

Bourne’s game at VCD on Saturday was postponed due to a frozen pitch, meaning it will be more than three weeks since they last played by the time they meet Sheppey.

They’ve kept ticking over as best they can, including a boxing session at Cantwell’s Gym in Eltham, which was good for both morale and fitness.

“We just need to win a game of football,” said boss Davis, who has seen defender Ben Gorham move to Ashford.

“It’s always nice to win a derby but I don’t care who it’s against as long as we get three points.

“Sheppey are a good side and they’ve got players who played for Sittingbourne (Josh Wisson and Jake Embery having signed for the Ites recently).

“I just want the next game to come around. It will be 24 days since we last played, which is a long time to wait. It’s been frustrating.

“Ideally we’d have liked a game in between. We’ve looked at friendlies but we haven’t got the biggest squad and if people aren’t available, you have to weigh up what’s the best thing to do.

“We need this game to come around. It’s a big game and there’ll be a good crowd in, which also helps the club financially.”

Sittingbourne were able to train outside following the VCD postponement, making use of the Goals five-a-side centre in Eltham.

That helped blow the cobwebs away, while the squad enjoyed their boxing workout.

“It’s just been nice to get people together, said Davis. “We’ve kept them ticking over.

“We had the Goals session for a couple of hours and the boxing session was really good for team spirit.

“They did loads of circuits, a lot of leg-work and upper-body stuff. They’d have 30 seconds on each station and move on to the next one.

“It’s the second time we’ve been and it’s a really good workout. It just breaks things up and mixes things up a bit from the normal sessions.”

Sheppey are 12th in the table, with Brickies old boys Embery and Wisson scoring in a 4-2 home defeat by Haywards Heath on Saturday.

Tickets for the Sheppey game are available here.