Sheppey United’s interim manager Ernie Batten has praised his players for sticking with them despite a budget cut.

The Ites won 1-0 at East Grinstead last Saturday in the FA Trophy First Qualifying Round to set up a Swale derby in the next round against Sittingbourne.

Two FA Cup qualifying round wins and an unbeaten start to their Isthmian League season has made for a pleasing start to a campaign that started with a fair bit of turmoil off the pitch.

Director of football Batten remains in charge of the first team but revealed those players were asked to reduce their money following a reduction in budget after chairman Matt Smith departed.

Batten said: “The players have been excellent and we had to make a difficult decision to ask them to reduce what they had been offered by Jack (Midson, the former manager), because that budget was set when Matt was at the club.

“I can’t speak highly enough of the players, because they have all bought into that, nearly to a man they have reduced their weekly wage.

“In this day and age, players - sometimes maybe fairly or unfairly - are criticised for seeking every last penny. I think that says a lot about our group and the type of players we’ve got at the football club, I am very pleased with that.”

A goal from Danny Leonard won them the game at East Grinstead but Sheppey were forced to play with just 10 men for the final half-hour after centre-back Lekan Majoyegbe was sent off. The Ites were already missing fellow central defender Briggs Ojemen through an Achilles injury.

It’s meant Batten has been working hard on trying to bring in some defensive cover ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup Second Qualifying Round tie at home to league rivals Burgess Hill Town and their FA Trophy match with Sittingbourne the week after.

In what’s a busy period of cup football, Sheppey hosted Beckenham Town in the Kent Senior Cup first round last night and are home to Herne Bay in the Velocity Cup on September 19.

Batten said: “We have been a bit unfortunate at the back recently and Briggs could be out for a while with that, it can be slow to heal.

“We’ve lost both centre-halves now going into some exciting games. I have asked about loans and been in talks with a player but it comes down to budgets and player availability.

“We are looking to strengthen in two or three areas.

“We need to get the right player at the right price, Sometimes it is a bit opportunistic, and sometimes a player may be willing to drop a bit of money if he wants to get back in at a good club.

“It is a bit of a wait-and-see, probing and asking at the moment, hopefully, something will pop up.”

Batten’s last stint as manager saw the Ites finish the season with four trophies in the cabinet.

It’s all about cup football at present. Sheppey’s next league game isn’t until Saturday, September 30, away at Littlehampton - but that will be off too if they can beat Burgess Hill on Saturday and win through to the Third Qualifying Round, which is scheduled for that weekend.

“We do love a cup run!” Batten said. “The cups are an opportunity for a bit of success and we all love a cup run as fans, especially playing against teams from a higher level.

“It provides a bit of income for the club as well as you get through each round, it is all very welcome at the moment.”

The Ites have already scooped just under £3,700 in prize money from their two FA Cup wins and another £3,375 is on offer this weekend to the winners. Last weekend’s FA Trophy success banked them £1,500.

Sheppey were beaten 1-0 at home by Beckenham Town in the Kent Senior Cup on Tuesday night.

The visitors scoring the only goal of the game early in the second half through Dieko Falade, winning through to play Dover in the next round.