by Alex Hoad

Gary Abbott wants Sittingbourne to get themselves back in the Ryman League Division 1 South play-off race with victory over bottom side Horsham YMCA on Saturday.

Boss Abbott, pictured, described last week’s 3-2 defeat at second-bottom Corinthian Casuals as ‘gutting’ on the back of two wins over play-off contenders.

He said: "Saturday was a great opportunity for us but we gave away some silly free-kicks and it cost us.

"To have won three on the spin would have been great for confidence."

With a Tuesday night trip to promotion-chasers Leatherhead on the horizon, Abbott wants three points from Horsham at Bourne Park to keep their gap to the play-off places at no more than eight points with seven games left.

He said: "We had great wins over two teams pushing for the play-off places but I said to the players that Corinthian would be the hardest of the three and we lost it.

"It was gutting to lose because with the way the results had gone, we’d have been sitting in seventh if we’d won.

"There is no pressure on us, though, and nobody expects us to do anything, so if we can get a result on Saturday, it would put us right back in there."

Sam Collins is back from a ban while Abbott has also added right-sided player Ryan Palmer to his squad, having first overseen him during pre-season training.