By Alex Hoad

Manager Andy Ford has admitted there is a bigger job to do at Maidstone than he first thought.

Stones slipped back into the Ryman League, Premier Division relegation zone this week with their five-game unbeaten run ended with back-to-back home defeats which saw them concede seven goals.

Ford (pictured) said: "It is a bigger rebuild than perhaps I first thought. The club is at the bottom of the league for a reason.

"It is like a trial period for the players at the moment but you can’t judge a player over one or two games, you have to give them a proper chance. But time is against us."

He added: "I want to make us difficult to play against. The club has been playing players in the wrong positions through necessity.

"I’m a 4-4-2 man and would like to get nice and settled in that formation but at the moment we have not got the personnel to play it."

Simon Glover is expected to be out until the end of the year after suffering a broken back in a freak collision in training.

The defender has been in Chatham’s Alexandra Hospital for more than a week after breaking a bone near his coccyx in a collision which he was able to walk away from.

Stones face a trip to Carshalton on Saturday.