Chris Lynch has accepted a new job at Dover Athletic - but is staying on as Sittingbourne manager.

Lynch will combine his Brickies duties with a first-team recruitment role at National League Whites.

He was offered the post following a meeting with Dover boss Andy Hessenthaler and is confident it won't get in the way of his work at Sittingbourne.

Lynch said: "I'm going to stay on at Sittingbourne until the end of the season, regardless, and my future is exactly the same as it was before this came up.

"We're building a project here to put Sittingbourne on the map.

"Everyone can see we're no longer a relegation team, we're well and truly in with a shot of the play-offs.

"We're only a year into the project and we're hitting the levels I would expect in two years' progress.

"We're in a good place and all the time we're doing well, things are happening on and off the field and there's a good buzz around the place then I'm not going anywhere.

"It's business as usual. That's the message I've given to the players.

"What I'm doing at Dover is completely compatible with my role as manager of Sittingbourne.

"I want to be clear, we've got a project here and my intention is to see that project out."

Lynch, who's already head of youth in Dover's youth section, is excited by his new role at Crabble.

The 40-year-old is ambitious to work in the Football League and this is another step in the right direction.

He said: "It shows if you work hard and are willing to put yourself out, opportunities do come up.

"It makes sense to surround yourself with good people or people you think can help you and Andy Hessenthaler and Darren Hare (Whites coach) fall into that category.

"They've got good reputations in the game and I'm hopefully starting to make my way up into the higher echelons and into the Football League, so the National League is something I need to get on my CV.

"No one in football knows everything.

"The top managers are the top managers because they are continually prepared to learn and evolve.

"This gives me a great opportunity to work with someone like Andy, who's been around league football, to assist in my progression.

"I'm going to be working with National League players or players who've been at much higher levels.

"At the moment Dover are looking at taking a Premier League player on loan and they're also looking at a couple of players in the Football League and one in Scotland. It'll be great to be around that.

"I'll be watching games and looking at players we've identified and there'll be research behind the scenes.

"It's a flexible role but it'll probably be a couple of days a week initially."

Sittingbourne visit Kent rivals Hythe this Saturday looking for a fourth straight win to strengthen their Isthmian South East play-off push.

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