Sittingbourne boss Darren Blackburn is set for talks with the board to discuss building on their promising campaign.

The Brickies took 10th place in Isthmian South East - their highest finish in nine years.

It was Blackburn’s first full season in charge and, having laid the foundations at Woodstock, he’s keen to improve.

“The club have got a meeting this week and I’d imagine we’ll have a chat about things after that,” said Blackburn, who will need a new assistant as Darren Pont is moving behind the scenes to work on the youth set-up.

“There’s certain things I want to sit down and discuss.

“If they want to keep me, brilliant, I’d like to stay on, it’ll be good to carry on building.

“It is going to be even more difficult next season with Chatham and Sheppey coming up, two big local powerhouses who we’re going to have to try and compete with.

“I need a few assurances on a few bits and pieces but Mo (chairman Maurice Dunk) and a lot of the guys on the board have been doing this a long time and they know what they’re doing.

“Mo’s a laid-back guy, he’s not one to panic, he’s a chilled-out chairman, which is good in many ways, but once we’ve had a discussion I’ll know where we are.

“This isn’t about me, it’s about the club. The club was here a long time before me and it’ll be here a long time after I go.”

Blackburn enjoys a great relationship with the Sittingbourne faithful.

He formed an instant bond with supporters after taking charge two years ago and it’s clear how much that means to him.

“It’s humbling to have had so many nice comments from the fans,” said Blackburn.

“They’re a down-to-earth bunch who are football-mad and Sittingbourne-mad and, fortunately, they seem to like me, which is nice.

“You get clubs where maybe 60% of the fans like the manager and 40% don’t or you’re watching a game and you hear fans berating from the sidelines, but I don’t hear anything like that from our lot.

“Win, lose or draw, we get the same reaction in the bar after games.

“Granted, the smiles are bigger when we’ve won but even when we’ve lost, they’re still so welcoming and me and my wife and my kids feel right at home there.

“It’s a very similar relationship to what I had at Hollands & Blair.

“I’ve never been one to jump from club to club or run away from a challenge. I just need to sit down with Mo and a couple of the guys when they get time, just to iron out what we’re going to do next season and make sure everyone in the boat is rowing in the same direction.

“If we are, we’ve got half a chance of having another decent season.

“I’ve learnt a lot, I’ve built up contacts I didn’t have before, so I feel I’m in a better position to recruit and build a team, but I don’t think for one minute I’ve cracked it.

“Did I use the money well enough?

“Mo might see flaws in me that I need to improve on and I’ll take that on board wherever I can.

“I’ll look at myself and the club and see where we can make improvements.

“We haven’t got magic wands, we can’t do the impossible, but we need to work out what we’ve got, can we make what we’ve got any better, can we improve in certain areas on and off the pitch, what do we need to tweak?”