Jack Barham says Maidstone manager Hakan Hayrettin was right to drop him.

Barham came off the bench to score the opening goal in last weekend’s 2-0 National League win at Scunthorpe.

His header from Roarie Deacon’s cross was his fourth goal of the season - making him the leading scorer.

Barham’s lost his place to Josh Fawole in recent weeks, last starting a game against Southend on October 25.

The striker, who scored 18 goals in last season’s National South title triumph, has no complaints, though.

“Watching from the sidelines is not always the best feeling in the world,” said Barham, 26.

“But I’ve been out of form the last few games and the gaffer’s dropped me, and rightly so because we haven’t been winning.

“The thing is I didn’t score in a while and being dropped, sometimes, it can go either way.

“You either go missing for a bit and not really be interested, or you roll your sleeves up, work hard and make sure when you’re called upon, you make a difference.

“For me, it’s been a case of work as hard as I possibly can to make sure I do my best for the team.

“I want to be the main man at this football club.

“I’ve got four goals now, so I’m up the top of the scoring charts and I want to stay there.

"It’s about getting as many goals and assists as I can, and helping the team out when we need the ball to stick. I’ve got to be that man.

“I know I’ll always get in the right positions to score goals.

“We’ve been playing a bit longer this season and it’s hard for me because the defenders are big and strong, and if you’re not going to beat them in the air, you’ve got to find a way to beat them on the floor.

“That said, I’ve scored my fair share of headers.

“I know I’ve got a good leap and I know I can beat defenders in the air.

“It’s about getting in the right positions and then relying on my wingers to put a decent ball in there and helping me get as many goals as I can to help the team.”

Maidstone climbed out of the relegation zone after beating Scunthorpe - their first win since the end of August - and Barham sees an opportunity to kick on.

They face another struggling side this Saturday (3pm) when former Premier League outfit Oldham visit the Gallagher.

The Latics, like Scunthorpe, have had a tough time since dropping out of the Football League last season and are in the bottom four.

“We’ve done really well to get a 2-0 win against Scunthorpe, a side who are down there with us, and these are the games you have to win,” said Barham.

“We didn’t go there to pick up a point, we wanted to get a win and now hopefully we can get some momentum and push on.

“We know the ability we’ve got in the changing room. We’ve got the quality.

“We’ve got Oldham coming up and it’s time to really ramp up the season.

“We needed that win, and it was lovely to get it for the fans.

“There’s a lot of games to go but it’s time to roll our sleeves up and go full throttle at the league.

“We’ve never been cut adrift. One win and you move up three or four places. That’s how tight it is.

“You’ve got to make sure you’re on your mettle every week or you end up down there and you stay down there.”

Maidstone visit Corinthian in the Kent Senior Cup on Tuesday (7.45pm).