Regan Booty says Maidstone’s victory at Dartford was the perfect way to return to the team.

Booty was back in midfield after completing a three-match ban and played a key role in the Stones’ 1-0 success.

He’d been a nervous spectator during his suspension, a result of his red card in the win at Braintree last month.

The Stones continued winning in his absence but manager Hakan Hayrettin was always going to find it difficult to leave out a player of Booty’s influence.

Jack Barham’s header saw Maidstone complete the league double over Dartford and maintain their four-point lead over Dorking in the National South title race.

Few would have predicted that after Dartford’s 3-0 FA Cup win at the Gallagher in October but Maidstone have gone from strength to strength.

“It was a massive win for us, a massive three points,” said Booty, after Monday’s derby triumph.

“It wasn’t a pretty game but we did everything we needed to do, we dug in as a group and I think we deserved the three points. It was a ridiculously good team effort.

“The support we had was unbelievable and to do the double over them in the league after what happened in the FA Cup, I think it was the perfect way to come back into the team.

“The lads have been unbelievable since I’ve been suspended, they’ve won three out of three and I wasn’t expecting to come back into the team but that’s football, you’ve got to be ready.

“I kept myself fit and ticking over while I was suspended and that’s obviously showed.

“To be honest, I hate watching football when I can’t play. I get more nervous watching.

“People were asking me are you gutted about being suspended and I said ask me in three games. If we won the three games I couldn’t care less.

“When you come back into the team you’ve got to be ready because if you don’t perform you’ve got two or three players waiting to perform instead.

“It’s a team game and everyone’s been outstanding to a man up to this point and hopefully three more wins and we’re over the line.

“We know what our end goal is.

“We’re taking it each game at a time. That’s the approach we’ve taken all season.

“We’ve had some good times, we’ve had some bad times, but if you keep it one game at a time you enjoy the highs as much as you hate the lows.

“At the minute we’re enjoying the highs and hopefully we can keep them coming for the next four games.

Maidstone have lost just two of their last 24 league games since putting their October wobble behind them.

Back then, a run of four defeats in five games saw them drop out of the play-off places but it’s been quite a recovery.

“I was speaking to Yusuf (Mersin, goalkeeper) about this last week,” said Booty, who moved down from Yorkshire to sign for Maidstone last summer.

“When he joined we were in a bad spell, we were eighth or ninth in the league and losing games and when you look at where we are now, with the record we’ve had for the last 20-25 games, it’s unbelievable.

“To turn it around just goes to show how close we are as a group.

“For everyone at the club, I just hope we can get it done and win the league.

“It’s a great club, with unbelievable fans and a great set of lads, I literally couldn’t have asked for a better time down here.

“The icing on the cake would be to finish the season the way we all want to and win the league.”