Maidstone’s players need to show more bravery when Oxford City visit the Gallagher Stadium this weekend.

That’s the message from manager Jay Saunders, who felt his team “froze” in their first two Vanarama National League South matches.

Stones recovered from a slow start to win at Sutton on the opening day but lost 2-0 at home to Ebbsfleet on Tuesday night.

Saunders admitted the occasion of the derby got to his players in front of a record crowd of 2,363 at the Gallagher.

He said: “It looked that way. It looks like we were lacking a little bit of belief.

“We want them to get on the ball, express themselves and be brave on the ball. In the first half, we didn’t do that. We went a bit direct, which was disappointing. We probably showed them a bit too much respect in the first half.

“There’s a fine line – you’ve got to show your opponents respect but we showed them a bit too much and sat off a little too much.”

Having faced two of the division’s fancied sides in the first four days of the new season, Saunders is philosophical.

He said: “If you’d said to me we’d have three points after Sutton and Ebbsfleet, in a new league, I’d have been happy."