Sam Denly is vowing there will be no sentiment attached to the Bank Holiday Monday home derby against Whitstable Town.

The Herne Bay boss may be a former Oysterman with strong connections to the local Ryman League, Division 1 South rivals, but said: "The past is the past. I am only focused on getting a result.

“Whitstable are bottom of the table for a reason, so we need to go out and do the business.

“I would miss the local derbies if they do go down, so I would rather they were in the league.”

He added: “We have had an excellent 2015 and want to finish the year on a high. But we have struggled in matches between the two sides recently and haven’t had the better of the games.”

Bay let a 2-0 lead slip inside the final quarter of an hour in the first meeting at The Belmont in August, with Charlie Smith and Sam Bewick earning Town a point after Danny Williams and Mark Lovell had scored twice before half-time.

Bay go into the game on the back of a 1-0 defeat at Ramsgate, ending their six-match winning run. And Denly was left bemused by how and why they left Southwood pointless on Saturday.

He said: “It was one of those days and how we came away with nothing I still don’t know.”

Denly has a fully-fit squad to choose from, with Sam Hasler the only absentee, as he serves out the third of a four-match ban.

Bay will host Vanarama National League South Dartford in the quarter-finals of the Kent Senior Cup next month. The tie is scheduled for Tuesday, January 12 (7.45pm).