Maidstone have been boosted by the return to fitness of last season’s leading goalscorer.

Ibby Akanbi hit 11 goals before suffering a knee injury in training, shortly before the campaign was halted by Covid-19.

A scan showed ligament damage and Akanbi spent lockdown doing his rehab with help over the phone from Stones sports therapist Beth Cooper.

He played an hour for the under-23s last weekend, was named on the bench in the FA Cup at Wimborne and could be involved when Maidstone host Hemel Hempstead at the Gallagher tomorrow.

Akanbi said: “I did my ACL in training so I missed the Weymouth and Eastbourne games at the end of last season.

“Due to corona I couldn’t really get in to see Beth so I just had to try and speak to her on the phone and get some stuff done at home.

"Since pre-season I’ve been trying to strengthen it and get back to full fitness and I had an hour on Saturday and felt good.

"The gaffer said I deserved to be on the bench for the FA Cup, which I really appreciated, and hopefully I’ll be involved on Saturday.

“It was the worst and best time to get injured because I didn’t miss too much football but at the same time it was hard because the rehab took longer.

“The first couple of weeks’ training were a bit nerve-racking, trying to get back into the swing of things, but I’ve got to thank Beth, she’s been an amazing help.

“Luckily I’ve only missed a couple of games and hopefully I can stay injury-free now and be back to help the team.”

It will be interesting to see what manager Hakan Hayrettin has in store for Akanbi.

Summer signing Scott Rendell has been playing as a lone frontman - the position Akanbi occupied last season.

The former Crystal Palace youngster hopes there’s room for both and he’s also looking forward to linking up with another new recruit in George Porter.

“I’ll leave all that to the gaffer,” said Akanbi. “That’s the gaffer’s headache.

“I’ll just do my job when I come on and if he decides to start me, that’s up to him.

“The team comes first, more than anything.

“The players Hak’s brought in have been different class. Scotty, George Porter, Joe Ellul, they all have experience of Conference Prem, and they’ve been a good improvement to the team.

“A lot of my goals came from Matty McClure last season and I think George can be that link-man this year.

“I think me and Scott will do well together, too. We get along really well so hopefully we get to play together.

“I got double figures last season and I feel comfortable at this level now.

“I played in the Conference a couple of years ago when I was 18 but last season was the first time back for a while and I had to get used to it again.

“This year I think I’ll be a bit better and I’ll definitely be able to help the team.”

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