Striker Danny Parish surprised to be released by Ashford United but looking forward to fresh start at Sittingbourne

Top scorer Danny Parish has spoken of his surprise at being released by Ashford.

The 10-goal striker was let go in a telephone conversation with manager Kevin Watson on Sunday morning.

It came as a shock to the forward who has since joined the Nuts & Bolts’ Isthmian South East rivals, Sittingbourne.

Ashford, beaten 1-0 at home by East Grinstead on Saturday, are in a poor run of form, with Watson looking to make changes.

“I think everyone’s surprised because my numbers, for how the team are doing, are good,” said Parish, 25.

“The call came out of the blue but that’s football.

“It’s been hard to enjoy it because of the form of the team - eight losses in 11 games - but I’m not a quitter so leaving hadn’t crossed my mind.

“But when I had that conversation I thought, is it the worst thing? Perhaps not.

“It was a bit of a shock but I didn’t dwell on it too much because I didn’t have to worry about options.

“I scored 10 goals and had seven assists in, I think, 20 starts.

“I know I’m an out-and-out striker but I’ve been playing behind the striker so I’m relatively pleased with those numbers.

“It’s not like I’ve been the highest player up the pitch all season.

“If that were the case, I’d have expected more goals.

“Kev said because of the run of the team he needs to change things and he said I wasn’t going to be the only change.

“It’s a weird one because you let go your player with the most goal contributions in the team, by quite a distance, but I’m sure there’s reasons behind it.

“I’m not dwelling on it because I’ve got a really good opportunity with Sittingbourne.”

There were no shortage of takers when news broke of Parish’s availability.

Former Ashford boss Tommy Warrilow, now in charge at Faversham, was among those