Sittingbourne have extra motivation to progress in the FA Trophy this weekend.

The Brickies host Ashford Town (Middx) at Woodstock in the First Qualifying Round on Saturday (3pm).

They still feel aggrieved at the manner of their FA Cup exit at the hands of Jersey Bulls, when refereeing decisions went against them in a 2-0 Extra Preliminary Round replay defeat.

Boss Ryan Maxwell has called on his side to channel that frustration in a positive way by launching an FA Trophy run.

“I’ve never had such bad luck, may it be injuries or refereeing decisions at major moments, as we had in the FA Cup,” said Maxwell. “I still feel aggrieved by what happened.

“I felt gutted for the players but we’ve got another opportunity now to put our energies and frustrations into this game and right a couple of wrongs.

“It’s a game we’ll take very, very seriously. I want to get on a run in the FA Trophy. A cup game always has an added spice to it and we want to try and start going a number of games unbeaten.

“That’s important to me and that’s why I see this as a game with a win-at-all-costs-type mentality. That’s what I’ve told the boys.

“It’ll be difficult, because cup games always are, but if these boys play to their potential consistently, I’m never worried about the opposition. I’m respectful but never worried.”

Sittingbourne came from a goal down to beat Ashford United 2-1 in the Kent Senior Cup First Round at Woodstock last Saturday.

Chris Harris levelled and Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Fischer scored the winner as Bourne struck twice in the last 10 minutes.

Harris, a summer signing from Bishop’s Stortford, is on his way back from injury and it was his first Brickies goal.

“Chrissy had only done one training session on Thursday,” said Maxwell.

“He was only supposed to play 15 minutes, which is roughly what he did, and he got one chance and scored.

“I can’t tell you how pleased I am to get him featuring and the impact he made reminded everyone just what a good player he is.

“We know we have to be careful with him and look after him because we’ll be a lot stronger when we have him available.”

Matchwinner Fischer is adapting to non-league football following his move to Sittingbourne.

The former PSG academy player previously played under Maxwell on loan at Braintree from Wycombe Wanderers.

“He’s still adapting to Step 4 but that’s why he’s here, so he can learn the nitty-gritty,” said the Brickies boss.

“That second-ball-type stuff is still relatively new to him because he’s had a different journey than most.

“He openly tells me at PSG the ball hardly ever left the floor.

“He did well for me at Braintree. You could see there was a player who needed to learn the game in terms of a British style of play but he’s getting there.

“He’s slowly understanding what it means to be effective without the ball.

“He’s learning how to be as effective without the ball as he is with the ball, may that be tracking runners or staying in his position and having that discipline.

“These are things that need to be improved so eventually one day he goes back to a higher level.

“Wycombe saw something in him, and clearly the boy’s talented, but he does need to get to grips fully with the game here.

“He’s a very intelligent man, hence why he’ll be able to do that, and then I’ve no doubt he’ll play much higher.

“He’s a great guy to manage in every way - as a person and as a player.”