Manager Nick Davis feels Sittingbourne owe Merstham in their final game of the Ryman League Division 1 South season.

Brickies travel to Merstham on Saturday on a run of three victories. Another win would clinch a top-half finish and move Brickies to 62 points – beating the haul of 61 in each of the last two seasons.

Davis hasn’t forgotten Brickies’ 5-0 beating by Merstham last December – the first of five defeats in a row without scoring.

That came during his early days in the job but Brickies are a different proposition now and want to make amends against a Merstham side who are safe in the play-offs.

Davis said: “If I were them I’d be resting people with the play-offs in mind but in a way I hope they don’t because we owe them one. It was a dreadful time for me, that run of results we went on after that."

Davis is confident he will keep the majority of his squad together after promising talks.

He said: “I spoke to most of the players on Saturday and they’ve agreed to stay. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything but a handshake is good enough for me.

“I want to get things sorted as soon as I can because we’ve got a way of playing now. Everyone who’s in the 16 at least deserves to come back to pre-season if they wish to."