It is fair to say that Sam Denly has hit the ground running since taking over the managerial reigns at Hythe Town in January.

The Cannons boss has seen his side go on an impressive run since he joined the club, and has his side just outside the play-off spots.

Speaking about the challenges of taking charge of a new side part way through the season, Sam said: “I have to say it was testing and something that was new to me, I can certainly say I have learnt a lot from the experience.

“It’s never easy coming into a team part way through the season, and of course naturally there is a bit of unrest and player movement, but I managed to keep the majority of the squad together and the boys have been excellent since I came in.”

Before the weekend’s postponement against Sittingbourne, Denly has his side sitting just outside the coveted play-off places.

He added: “The lads are full of confidence at the moment and there seems to be a real buzz around the club, all we can do is take it game by game and if can continue the good form we are in there is no reason we can’t find ourselves in and around the play offs come end of the season, we have a lot of difficult games coming up though so will just take it game by game and not get too carried away.

“Our Form at the moment is excellent but we are not getting carried away, we have a lot of games still to play so we just need to remain focused and take it game by game, you could say we are hitting form at the right time.

“As I said earlier we still have a lot of matches to play and plenty of points to play for, but as it stands  we are in the top five for recent form and if we want to find ourselves within the play off places that form needs to continue for the rest of the season.

Hythe Town could well be the team that makes the late run into the play-offs that no one really wants to face as they are the team in form, and Sam believes his side are a match for anyone.

He said: “I have said this before that there is always a team that goes on a run and finds themselves within the play off places, I do feel that on our day we are a match for anyone and if we was to get in there I’m not sure many teams would fancy playing us.”

One player who has really found form since joining the club on loan from Gillingham is Darren Oldaker, Denly is full of praise for the young midfielder.

He added: “DJ has been excellent since he came to us, and has played a massive part in our success over the last month, having his loan extended is great news for the team and I’m sure having him will help us kick on and finish the season strongly.”

Finally we asked Sam whether it was a tough decision to leave Herne Bay after four years, and whether when the Hythe opportunity came up he was itching to get back into management.

He said: “It was one of the hardest decisions I have probably had to make in football but one I think I made for the right reasons, I felt I had taken Herne bay as far as I could and stand by that decision, Herne bay is a great football club and has a lot of good people there that do  lot of work behind the scenes.

“I’ll be forever grateful they gave me my first opportunity to manage at Ryman league level and will always be a club that is close to me, I have to say it was nice to have a little break and I enjoyed my time out of football but when the opportunity came up to manage Hythe it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down and I was more than ready to get back into management.”