Manager Jay Saunders has admitted Maidstone’s title challenge in Ryman League Division 1 South is probably over and says he would settle for a play-off place now.

Stones suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Faversham last weekend - with two goals coming from former Maidstone players - which left them 11 points behind leaders Bognor Regis.

Maidstone remain fourth, but just two points separate them from sixth-placed Folkestone, with Invicta and fifth-placed Worthing having games in hand over them.

Saunders (pictured) said: "To be honest I would take finishing fifth and the play-off place now if I could. We’ve still got some big games ahead, we’ve got to play Bognor, Whitehawk and Folkestone, so it’s in our hands.

"We’ll just concentrate on ourselves and hope the teams around us drop points, but it’s looking like the top three are pulling away and then the other two play-off places are up for grabs."

He added: "If we want to make sure we’re going to have to try and go on another long unbeaten run through our last nine games."

Stones travel to Southwood to face eighth-placed Ramsgate on Saturday and Saunders is keen to avoid a repeat of the five-game losing streak that United suffered after losing at Faversham in November.

He said: "I’m hoping that the Faversham game was just one of those days and it won’t cause another losing run. It’s a tough game at Ramsgate, it always is."

Saunders has a fully-fit squad for Ramsgate with the exception of midfielder Michael Phillips, who is awaiting another scan on his knee ligament injury.