Sittingbourne are fully prepared for their first involvement in the Isthmian South East play-offs.
The Brickies host Three Bridges at the semi-final stage tonight (7.45pm), having finished third and fourth respectively.
They’d also been working on plans for Chichester, the other potential opponents going into the final day of the regular season.
But it’s Three Bridges who’ll be making their way to Woodstock after clinching fourth with a 2-1 win at Ramsgate on Saturday.
The other semi-final sees Ramsgate host Chichester, with the final on Friday night (7.45pm).
Brickies boss Ryan Maxwell said: “Until Saturday we didn’t know who we were going to be playing so we had one eye on both Three Bridges and Chichester.
“We’ve since streamlined our preparations for playing Three Bridges and what that means because they are very different from Chichester.
“Does that mean a couple will play who might not have faced Chichester?
“Probably, yes, so there was that to think about, but I’ve pretty much got it nailed on who’s going to play and what we’re going to do.
“It didn’t matter to us who we were playing, because we know both sides well, we just had to be mindful of the two styles where one’s more direct than the other.
“Three Bridges are a dangerous team. We know their strengths and their weaknesses.
“They score a lot of goals so we’ve got to make sure we’re incredibly tight at the back and limit them to next to nothing.
“It’s also very important we play our own game as well.
“If we do that, we’re very difficult to stop.
“We respect what they’re good at and leave no stone unturned to make sure our players are fully aware of everything.
“We’ve got experience in our side, boys who’ve been round the block, and this won’t be new to them.
“We’ve got others who it certainly will be new to but ultimately we’ve got to enjoy it.
“Most people’s seasons are over by now but ours isn’t.
“That’s what we promised we would do and now it’s about getting over that first hurdle.”
Sittingbourne ended the regular season with a 4-1 home defeat by Littlehampton, with Maxwell resting a number of players.
“We rested six on Saturday, with the play-offs in mind,” he said.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision. Even a dead leg, you wouldn’t have time to recover from. I told the boys who played to look after themselves and just get through the game.
“It was all about Tuesday and they totally understood that.
“Other than the long-term injuries, everyone else is keen, eager and fresh and we’re pretty much good to go.”
