Reece Prestedge believes the management team at Sittingbourne have brought out the best in each other.

Prestedge is No.2 to boss Ryan Maxwell and they enjoy a close working relationship, along with coach Billy McMahon.

The title-chasing Brickies have had a phenomenal season, including a 30-match unbeaten run in Isthmian South East, as well as reaching the FA Trophy quarter-finals for the first time.

Former Margate manager Prestedge, who joined Sittingbourne last summer, knows he’s free to put his ideas across.

“I think we bring out the best in each other,” said Prestedge.

“I’ve known Maxy outside of football anyway.

“We agree on a lot of things but, as a management team, you can’t always agree because you’re only ever going to have a one-dimensional view.

“If you’re the manager and the assistant and you’re only ever looking at one way, you’re only going to see it one way.

“You need people that are going to question a few things, maybe give you other ideas, and I think that’s what we’ve got as a whole management team, Billy as well, that’s how we’ve all contributed.

“At the end of the day, Maxy is the manager and he picks the team but we all get our say, we all get our point across, whether we agree or not.

“Sometimes it isn’t the case but we always back each other and pull out the right results.

“We work really well as a management team. There’s other places you could be and you’d just sit there but we all trust each other, and I think that’s key.

“I’ve probably taken a lot from what Maxy’s done as well, in how he manages teams, his team-talks, and his preparation towards games is second to none.

“We’ve all bought into it and I think that’s key as well.”

Second-placed Sittingbourne remain seven points behind Ramsgate with six games remaining after beating Eastbourne Town 2-0 at home on Saturday.

Troy Howard broke the deadlock with a lovely finish midway through the first half and Ade Azeez, whose loan from Billericay has been extended until the end of the season, added an injury-time penalty.

The Brickies also hit the woodwork five times in a dominant display.

“It was a very good performance,” said Prestedge.

“We gave a great account of ourselves.

“We put a good shift in, tweaked a few bits and it’s coming together again.

“Clean sheets are vital, especially at the business end of the season, and we went into that game full of confidence, full of belief and all the usual cliches.

“It could have been more. We’ve hit the post three times, hit the bar twice and had a couple cleared off the line, but at this stage of the season, a win and a clean sheet is all you can ask for.

“All we can do is take each game as it comes, make sure we’re right and do everything we can to put the pressure on Ramsgate.

“In any other league you’re probably top but it’s not to be at the moment.

“You never know what might happen. It’s not impossible to catch Ramsgate.

“I’ve seen stranger things happen in football but we can only do what we’re doing.

“As long as we do that and focus on ourselves, whatever happens, happens.”

Luke Woodward, having started the 2-1 midweek win at Hythe, got more minutes off the bench as he continues his comeback from a long-term injury.

The midfielder, last season’s player-of-the-year, has looked the part.

Prestedge said: “He was excellent against Hythe on Tuesday. He won every first and second ball and put a real steel back into that midfield.

“We’ve got to manage his minutes because he’s been out a long time but he’s done his rehab and put himself back into the frame and he deserves credit for that.

“It’s a strange one because I hadn’t seen Woody outside of being injured so to see him competing properly in training and then playing his first game, I was really impressed by him.

“He did everything you need to do as a midfielder, and that’s where I played, so I even see the small details that he brings that lift the team.

“It’s nice to have him out there and in contention to start.

“It gives the other boys some rest time and it gives us another headache.”

Sittingbourne visit second-bottom Lancing this Saturday (3pm), having re-signed defender Lex Allan from Hythe.

The Sussex club are 10 points from safety and need a win to keep their survival hopes alive.

“It’s going to be a tough game because they’re fighting for their lives,” said Prestedge.

“It isn’t called the business end for no reason, is it?

“There’s no given. You have to approach each game as if it were a final, so we go there with the same mentality as if we were playing Ramsgate.”