Simon Walton accused Maidstone players of not fighting for the shirt in their defeat by Maidenhead.

Joint caretaker boss Walton felt the Stones were bullied by their relegation rivals in a 4-2 loss at the Gallagher Stadium on Tuesday night.

They remain second-bottom but are now four points from safety after missing the chance to move out of the National League relegation places.

Walton said: "I’ve tried to be positive and we’ve tried to instil positivity but as a player I would not accept that and as a caretaker manager I will not accept that.

"We have been let down by people we trust.

"It's heat-of-the-moment stuff, fair enough, but if people really look at themselves they will know they’ve let not just us down but they’ve let themselves down.

"That’s why we are where we are. That is a performance that proves why we are where we are.

"Forget the rest of it that we’ve tried to implement, passing the ball, letting people express themselves, you have to fight first.

"I’ll hold my hands up, maybe we’ve played the wrong team but don’t let them use that as an excuse.

"Whoever we pick should be fighting for that shirt and tonight 90% of them did not do that.

"They got bullied from start to finish and at 4-1 it’s easy to play, Maidenhead are sat back with cigars.

"That’s not how we’re going to get out of the situation we’re in.

"They’ve been brilliant for us for two weeks but again it’s the story of our season.

"We’re a flash-in-the-pan team at the minute.

"Consistency has to be key between now and the end of the season but again I’m banging the same drum.

"I’ve said the same thing, there’s only a certain amount of times you can tell players but we’ve got to go again."

Read the match report from Maidstone's 4-2 by Maidenhead