Sittingbourne’s Duane Ofori-Acheampong is eyeing promotion - this season.

The Brickies sit 16th in Isthmian South East, 12 points off the play-offs, after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Burgess Hill made it eight games without a win.

But things change quickly in football and Ofori-Acheampong sees no reason why Nick Davis’ side shouldn’t be aiming high.

Brickies vice-chairman Andrew Marjeram is trying to drive the club forward and that appeals to the striker, who recently rejoined on a permanent deal having impressed on loan last season.

“The aim is to go for promotion this year - that’s why I signed,” said Ofori-Acheampong.

“I had a good conversation with Marj and that’s his aim.

“He’s a top guy and I get on well with him.

“It’s his vision and hunger to get the boys promoted and take us forward, that’s the biggest thing for me.

“There’s still plenty of time. It’s a tight league.

“You know what it’s like when you get a few wins - things start looking up very quickly.

“It’s a new squad this year, new staff, there’s new ideas and a new philosophy and it takes time to gel.

“But you win four games in a row and you suddenly find yourselves around the play-offs.

“We might be written off but, if anything, that works in our favour. That’s the best thing that could happen.

“When people see all these players we’ve signed who have played at higher levels, there’s expectations.

“But if they’re saying we aren’t going to do anything, that we’ve got no chance, we can quietly go about our business. Blink and you’re there or thereabouts.

“I speak from experience on that front.

“I remember when I was at Dartford, we were top of the table and Braintree were bottom at Christmas.

“Next thing, they were in the play-offs and they ended up knocking us out and getting promoted.

“So you can’t look at the table and say we’ve got no chance. It just takes a run but we need to get a move on, we can’t just keep talking about it.

“We know what we’re doing and once we gel and the wins come, we should be there or thereabouts.”

Ofori-Acheampong returned from a tight hamstring as Sittingbourne lost at Burgess Hill.

They conceded twice inside half an hour, with Mario Quiassaca replying in the second half.

This Saturday (3pm), they’re looking for just a second home win of the season when they take on East Grinstead.

“Our home form hasn’t been great and it’s crucial we get it right,” said Ofori-Acheampong.

“We want teams to come here knowing they’re going to be in for a game.

“Everyone loves away wins but you need a balance.

“With the players we’ve got, we’re capable of getting results. We know what we need to do.

“We want to end the year as well as we possibly can, get some wins and go into the new year with a buzz in the changing room. Hopefully we can do that.”

Ofori-Acheampong made his mark at Bourne last season while on loan from National League South Hungerford.

He scored five goals in his first five appearances, including a hat-trick in a 4-2 win at East Grinstead.

The 30-year-old started this season at Bowers & Pitsea in the Isthmian Premier before returning to Brickies.

“It’s been good coming back,” he said.

“I enjoyed my time here last season, so it was good to get something done.

“I stayed in contact with Marj and kept an eye on how Sittingbourne were doing. I’ve played a couple of games now, three with the Kent Cup.

“We just need to get some wins on the board.”