George Elokobi said there was no hiding away from the situation facing Maidstone following an eighth successive National League defeat.

The Stones’ survival chances suffered after losing 3-0 at home to Aldershot on Tuesday night as optimism generated by an upturn in performances under caretaker boss Elokobi took a hit.

After knocking Notts County out of the FA Trophy and pushing new leaders Wrexham all the way, the visit of Aldershot was seen as a genuine chance to pick up a first league win since November.

But the Shots, who’ve pulled clear of trouble under new boss Ross McNeilly, controlled the game and took the points with Inih Effiong’s hat-trick.

Oldham’s 2-0 win over York leaves Maidstone six points from safety - effectively seven given their goal difference - plus the Latics have four games in hand.

“Expectations were high tonight,” said Elokobi. “From us, from our fans, from our boys, and we’ve fallen short again.

“At this moment in time we are in a relegation fight. That’s the reality. There’s no hiding away from it.

“We are still very much together behind the scenes. We’ve just had a good chat in there - not to blame each other.

“We look at ourselves as individuals, as a team collectively, but also as a coaching and management staff, we have to look at ourselves, how we set up tactically.

“Did we get the right team? Did we get the right selection?

“We have to assess everything and we’ll be back on Thursday to work again.

“We lacked a little bit of creativity.

• Report: Maidstone 0-3 Aldershot

“This was a high-pressure game and I said to the boys before the game, this is where we’re going to measure ourselves, where we are at this moment in time, and I’ve said that to them again.

“Now we’ve got to pick ourselves up and look into how we played today but also look forward to the next game.

“We assess it and move on as quickly as we can because there’s lot of games coming up and hopefully we turn it around soon.

"I very much believe in the squad and I believe in what we’ve got in that changing room and I know we will turn things around.”

Effiong, the former Dover striker, was too hot to handle.

He gave Aldershot a half-time lead and finished off Maidstone’s hopes after the break.

The Stones, who hit the bar in added time through Ryan Galvin, created a couple of decent chances but largely struggled to get a grip on the game.

“This, to us, is a reality check, which is good,” said Elokobi.

“Sometimes these games happen and we’ve got to ensure we look at ourselves and look at how we set up tactically.

“Hopefully when we assess that and we analyse our part in it as a management team, then we can help the players more.”