Sittingbourne manager Chris Lynch has offered Shaun Brown his full support after the striker was ruled out for the season.

Brown, a summer signing from Corinthian, suffered a knee injury in the Brickies' FA Cup tie at Bognor Regis in September.

Lynch revealed at the start of October that Brown would require an operation on his ACL and expected him to be out for three or four months.

But a few weeks later, Brown's season has been written off.

Lynch said: "We're now resigned to the fact he will be out for the rest of the season.

"He's a strong lad, a positive lad and he knows we'll support him fully through his surgery and rehab.

"It's a shame because it could have been a big season for him.

"He's 25, he was scoring goals for fun at Corinthian last season and this was probably going to be the season where he stepped up a level and showed he could bang in 25 or 30 goals.

"It's a blow for him and for us but what can we do?

"We'll keep him around the club. We're like that for every player coming back from long-term injury.

"It's important to keep those players in sight as well as mind. It's good for their mental health and keeps them going.

"We're like a family.

"Take Tommy Loynes. He attended every session when he was out with his knee and now he's on the way back.

"He's going to get some minutes for the development squad on Thursday night.

"We've given him a plan so he has four games with them to get him match-fit and then we'll get him back with the first team and see how he goes."

Sittingbourne return to Isthmian South East action at Haywards Heath on Saturday.

They go into the game in 15th place but would move above the hosts with a win.

The Brickies are looking to bounce back from last weekend's 1-0 FA Trophy defeat by Tooting & Mitcham, when they had two penalties turned down and an injury-time goal disallowed.

Lynch said: "I don't normally talk about referees but on another day we would have got the decisions.

"I felt as early as five minutes there would only be one goal in it but we gave a good account of ourselves.

"Moving on to Haywards Heath, I'm very confident we can go there and put on a performance."

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