New skipper Matt Warren wants to bring the Sittingbourne dressing room together.

Midfielder Warren was given the armband by manager Nick Davis after Ben Gorham joined Ashford before Christmas.

He was the natural choice, stepping up from his role as vice-captain, and he’s ready to make a difference and help third-bottom Sittingbourne climb the Isthmian South East table.

There's work to do after a 4-1 home defeat by Swale rivals Sheppey yesterday.

Brickies keeper Matt Cafer was sent off with the game goalless and the Ites took full advantage.

“I think the main thing we need to do now is get a better feeling in the dressing room,” said Warren, who reached the play-off semi-finals with Cray Valley last season.

“We’ve got a good group of players, it’s just getting a bit more positivity and getting people playing for each other.

“I think I’ll be able to bridge the gap between players and management and get everyone enjoying their football.

“I’m not going to be the loudest person on the park and I’m not going to be screaming and shouting for no reason.

“I’ll be vocal enough in the dressing room and on the pitch but it’s about setting a standard and I guess the main aim for me is getting the boys playing for each other.

“Once you’ve been in a dressing room where that happens, it makes a massive difference.

“No matter how good players are, at any level, if you don’t have a good dressing room, where people are willing to work for each other, it doesn’t work.

“Negativity is no good. When you’ve got a couple of players moaning and criticising, it spreads and it’s super-hard to get everyone working together.

“You need that work ethic to be successful.”

Duane Ofori-Acheampong cancelled out Lekan Majoyegbe's opener against Sheppey but Warren Mfula's double and a Jake Embery goal settled the Swale derby.

It's nine games without a win for the Brickies, who visit second-bottom Corinthian - the team immediately below them - on Monday (3pm).

“We’ve just got to draw a line under the end of 2022,” said Warren.

“We’ve thrown away a lot of games we should have won.

“The league is so tight, if we manage to turn those draws and defeats into wins, we can start climbing.

“It’s small margins but I think togetherness is going to be key. We had that at Cray Valley.”

Warren would love to go on a winning run to reward Sittingbourne’s loyal supporters.

Fans have kept faith during a challenging period and the captain has nothing but praise for them.

“You’ve got that core group who go home and away,” he said.

“There’s a community feel and people that love the club and follow it everywhere, which is nice.

“Considering the poor run we’ve had, they’ve not once wavered. They’ve always been behind us and geeing us up after games, even when we’ve played poorly and lost.

“Credit to them and I’m hoping we can switch it around and pay them back for their support.

“I’ve played in teams before - not Cray Valley - where it’s quite negative in the bar afterwards with fans and committee members, whereas at Sittingbourne I’ve got nothing but positive words to say.”