Warren Mfula is fired up to prove a point to those who have played down his and Sheppey’s achievements this season.

Mfula scored 35 goals in 29 games after signing in November as the Ites completed a Southern Counties East quadruple.

The striker has agreed terms to stay at Holm Park for next season’s debut campaign in Isthmian South East and is determined to show what can be achieved at a higher level.

“It was a simple conversation to stay on,” said Mfula, 32, who has played as high as National League South with Dartford.

“After what we achieved last season, you’re hungry for more.

“We’ve got a good squad and I know the management team are trying to recruit a couple more new faces to make us even stronger.

“We had an incredible season, regardless of the level.

“You get people saying, ‘yeah, but it’s Step 5, blah, blah, blah’ but we know how good we are.

“That fires me up for next season.

“I’ve played Step 2, 3 and 4 and scored goals at every step.

“When people question you because the goals this season have come in Step 5, it annoys you a little bit.

“You know how good you are, what you can do, and I know my team and every person in that team.

“Whatever team we’re playing against, we give 110% and what I like about Sheppey is we always play to win.

“You never see us setting up for a draw.

“Our mentality is to win games and we play attacking football but we defend well as a team as well and keep a lot of clean sheets.

“The fact we want to attack and dominate games helps us a lot.”

Mfula, who has also played for Corinthian-Casuals, Burgess Hill, Hastings and Cray Valley, knows what to expect in Isthmian South East.

And he’s confident Sheppey have what it takes to compete.

“We know it’s going to be tougher but we have a team to do really well at Step 4,” he said.

“Like all levels, you get one or two teams who play possession football out from the back, the tiki-taka stuff where they move you about.

“But the rest of them are long-ball teams who smash it forward, try and win the header and play off second balls.

“The only difference between the steps is players are a lot fitter and a lot smarter.

“We’re big on fitness ourselves. We’ve got the GPS vests, where everything is tracked, and when we do our stats review, you don’t want to be at the bottom.

“That will definitely motivate everyone to do extra training on the side, so you can keep up with the rest.

“I like to do a day or two in my own time doing extra stuff to stay on top of things.

“I’ll do an hour or two, cardio, treadmill, bike, stuff like that.

“In terms of the set-up, it’s really brilliant at Sheppey.

“The equipment, the way the club is run, it’s really good.

“It’s exciting times to be back in Step 4 and hopefully we can challenge. It would be amazing to go up again.”

Meanwhile, long-serving midfielder Richie Hamill - nicknamed the Sheppey Pirlo - has agreed a new deal.

Hamill has been at Holm Park for four years, chalking up his 100th appearance this season.

“It was an easy decision to stay at Sheppey,” he told the Ites website. “It’s a great club that’s going places.”