Maidstone manager Hakan Hayrettin says he received online abuse over his reluctance to play Alfie Pavey this season.

Pavey, who scored 300 goals for the club’s academy, returned to the Stones after leaving Barnet last summer.

He came off the bench to score winners against Chelmsford and Billericay but struggled to nail down a place in Hayrettin’s side and has spent the past few months on loan at Dover.

Hayrettin revealed the abuse when discussing the form of striker Jack Barham, who scored his second hat-trick of the season in Maidstone’s 3-2 win at Eastbourne Borough last weekend.

Barham, along with Reece Grant, missed the opening months of the season with knee injuries, leaving Pavey as the only recognised striker.

“I go back to the time we had no centre-forward,” said Hayrettin, whose side face National South promotion rivals Oxford City at the Gallagher on Saturday.

“We did have one in Alfie Pavey but he wasn’t one that could play the way I wanted him to play.

“I was getting a lot of stick on social media, if I don’t play Alfie Pavey, it’ll be your last game, I was getting all kinds of verbal abuse but I stuck to what I believed in and went with what I wanted.

“Jack was out and Reece was out, two big players for me.

“Jack’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, he’s going to lose the ball quite a lot, but he’s going to run his socks off and put teams under pressure and when the ball’s in that box, he’s going to have a hell of a chance to score, and that’s why we signed him.

“He’s a poacher, he’s like a little rat. He’s played for Dorking, he’s played for Dartford and now he’s playing for me and I think I’m getting the best out of him.”

Hayrettin, whose side are on a 13-match unbeaten run in the league, has vowed to keep standards high going into two big weekends in the title race.

It’s second v third when Maidstone take on Oxford and that’s followed by leaders Dorking away.

“They’re big games, aren’t they?” said Hayrettin.

“We’re playing the team in third and the team who are top.

“I feel the next five games will determine where we’re going to be.

“My job is to push the lads and get the best out of them and we need to keep that going.

“I have certain standards I have to adhere to and if I drop my standards, they’re going to drop their standards, so I’m going to keep my standards high and push them and they’ve done that remarkably well all season. Long may it continue.

“There’s that feeling amongst the players that they aren’t going to lose games and my job is to keep them on that run, but you never know what’s going to happen in football.

"I won 22 games on the spin at Grays, so anything’s possible.

“You don’t have to say a lot then, just keep it going, but you’ve got to make vital changes at vital times in games, and you’ve got to keep them focused and disciplined and we’ve got that in abundance here.

“Now and again I fly off the handle just to let them know and keep them on their toes. It doesn’t hurt to do that.”