Nathan Elder's playing days could be over following a promotion at Sittingbourne.

Elder joined the Brickies as player-coach under former manager Aslan Odev last summer.

He's now been made up to assistant manager by new boss Chris Lynch, who wants the former Brighton and Brentford striker to concentrate on coaching.

Lynch said: "I didn't know Nathan before I came in. Day one was the first time I'd met him.

"He's had a trial period for the last month.

"I made it clear to him from the start I was looking for a forward-thinking coaching team and he could be a member of that if he had the required capabilities that I felt would match mine.

"He's done really well, he's shown me he can comfortably sign up to the policies and procedures I've got in place and I'm sure he'll do well from here.

"He's 33, so he's at a point where his best playing days are behind him.

"The coaching journey, once you start, it takes a long period of time to get anywhere near the UEFA level and he knows there's a lot of work that's got to be done before he gets anywhere near that.

"He's got a nice little journey mapped out for him now.

"I think he needs to focus on his coaching, which we've discussed."

Lynch has strengthened his midfield by signing Tommy Lawrence from Tonbridge.

The 21-year-old will be available for Saturday's Bostik South East home game against East Grinstead.