George Elokobi says it's time for reflection after Maidstone's relegation from the National League was confirmed.

The Stones are down with five games to play following a 4-0 home defeat by Boreham Wood yesterday.

Elokobi succeeded Hakan Hayrettin in January, initially as caretaker boss, with the Stones on a run of six defeats and only two wins in 22 matches.

He felt he could keep them up but has been unable to halt the slump, picking up just three points from 14 games and failing to register a league win.

They’re the first team in the top five divisions of English football to be relegated this season, a year on from celebrating promotion as National South champions.

Elokobi said: “We have to look at every element of when we came into this league, from the moment we got promoted up to this very moment when we’ve been relegated.

“We all need to reflect and as the manager of this football club I know exactly those factors that caused us to be relegated.

“If we don’t win football matches you can’t stay in this league and that’s as simple as it goes.

“We haven’t been good enough this season and we have to make sure in the next five games we try and give a good account of ourselves.

“From my experience as a player, yes, I’ve been in that relegation battle.

“Yes, I’ve been relegated with about five games left and this is not a surprise.

“It’s all about winning games. It doesn’t matter if you play good or you play ugly, it’s about trying to win games and we haven’t done that as a group.

“As a manager that’s my job and the job of the management team and the board, that’s been ever so supportive behind the scenes, to try and put it right in the summer.”

Elokobi’s positivity seemed to be paying off as performances improved after taking the reins in January.

• Report: Maidstone 0-4 Boreham Wood

Maidstone beat Notts County on penalties in the FA Trophy in his first game and produced a stirring display in a 3-2 defeat by Wrexham the following week.

There seemed genuine optimism he would turn things around but the results haven’t followed.

“I genuinely thought we could stay up,” said Elokoki.

“There were enough points to play for.

“When I came in, I knew I could turn things around and I still know I can turn things around even though we’ve been relegated.

"That is a resilience in me to never say never and make sure we keep building, we keep planning for next season.

“I knew there were enough points and it was up to myself and the management team to ensure we kept driving the players.

“But, again, we’ve seen it on several occasions in terms of the amount of injuries we keep picking up because we have to be realistic about that.

“We did all the assessments and the reviews when I came in to ensure I could pinpoint where the issues were coming from.

“I know exactly where those issues came from and it’s good to know those things going forward so next season it doesn’t repeat itself.

“It’s not just injuries. There’s different factors. It’s the recruitment. We have to look at everything.

“Even if we did stay up, I knew it was going to be a big task.

"I knew it was going to be a rebuilding job from the minute I came in because there were a lot of factors that I’ve touched on that need improving.

“It’s important that now we all reflect and we start putting those plans in progress."