Tony Rickson previews Sittingbourne v VCD Athletic

It’s a home debut for new Sittingbourne manager Chris Lynch with a rearranged match against VCD Athletic at Woodstock on Tuesday evening.

Lynch took over from Aslan Odev just over a week ago and has been busy rebuilding the Sittingbourne squad since.

Four players made their debuts on Saturday in the away match at Ramsgate, and it’s hoped more will have joined the club’s battle against relegation by Tuesday evening.

Sittingbourne have been left very short of players after an exodus away from the club in the last couple of months and the problem’s been made worse by injuries to important players like Lex Allan and Tom Loynes.

But there were impressive glimpses on Saturday of what some of the new players would be able to offer, even though the odds were massively stacked against Sittingbourne after Ramsgate took a two-goal lead in the first seven minutes.

Sittingbourne did well to stay in the game until the home side added a couple more in the second half to complete a solid win.

That defeat means Sittingbourne are still just one point away from the relegation-threatened bottom place, but Greenwich Borough currently occupy that position after shipping seven goals in each of their last two games.

Tuesday’s opponents VCD are just outside the play-off places, in eighth place and well in contention still.

But they were beaten 3-1 by league leaders Cray Wanderers on Saturday and ended with 10 men after former Sittingbourne player Tyrone Guthrie was sent off not long after coming on as a substitute.

When VCD last visited Woodstock, in September 2017, Sittingbourne won an exciting match 3-2.

This match has twice been postponed and new manager Lynch is optimistic it will be third time lucky and he can get off to a winning start at home.