Sittingbourne assistant boss Joe Anderson on the signing of defender Ben Swift and the form that’s taken them into the Isthmian South East play-offs

Sittingbourne have given defender Ben Swift a route back into football after two years out.

Swift, 28, hasn’t played a competitive match since suffering a serious knee injury while with Tonbridge in November 2023.

It’s been a long road back for the 28-year-old, who made headlines as a teenager when Premier League club Aston Villa signed him from Maidstone United’s academy.

Swift, an old-school centre-half who loves to defend, will be a huge asset for the Brickies in their Isthmian South East promotion push as he works towards match fitness.

Sittingbourne manager Reece Prestedge and assistant boss Joe Anderson were team-mates with Swift at Margate and were set to welcome him to training on Tuesday night.

“We played with Swifty at Margate, so we’ve got a good relationship with him,” said Anderson.

“He’s a very good player - we’re excited to work with him again.

“He just needs to play football essentially, just to get back fit, because he’s more than capable of playing higher.

“He’s in shape - he did a Hyrox event on Friday - so he’s definitely fit enough to be playing.

“Football’s a different kind of fitness but he’s looked after himself and the knee’s plenty healthy enough to play, so it’s just getting him back on the ball.

“He’s got those old-school qualities and you’ve got Jack Steventon next to him, so that’s quite a solid partnership. That’s what we’re hoping, anyway.

“They live round the corner from each other as well, they know each other off the pitch, so it looks quite positive.”

Steventon scored for the second week running as Sittingbourne fought back from a goal down to draw 1-1 at Herne Bay on Saturday.

They were denied a sixth successive victory under Prestedge when Darren Foxley’s strike, which appeared to be