George Elokobi will ensure Maidstone are ready for everything Herne Bay throw at them in the FA Cup.

The Stones were last season’s great underdog story after beating Barrow, Stevenage and Ipswich en route to the last 16.

But the boot is on the other foot this Saturday (3pm) when Elokobi’s side visit Bay in the third qualifying round.

United are firm favourites to progress against their Isthmian South East opponents, whose boss Steve Lovell has described the tie as “the best draw we could get”.

It’s captured the imagination of home fans, with a big crowd expected at Winch’s Field to see if Bay can pull off an upset.

“I’ve said this to our players, time and again, every team loves to play against Maidstone United,” said boss Elokobi.

“You see it when teams beat us or nick a draw, they celebrate because of what we did last season, whether we like it or not.

“It’s my job to remind our players that we need to up our levels by 20% because teams want to beat Maidstone United and our players need to understand that and understand it fast.

“That means they have to make sure they are running and running and working and working to ensure we pick up results.”

Maidstone had a taste of being favourites in the qualifying rounds last season, with wins at Steyning and Winchester, way before they started making national headlines.

They were professional in their approach and, while the squad is much-changed, the same is required against Herne Bay.

“We have to keep reminding our players not to become complacent because there are no easy games in football,” said Elokobi, whose side beat National League South rivals Hampton & Richmond in the second qualifying round a fortnight ago.

“When you think a game is going to be easy, it’s far from it and it’s our job to make sure we do the right things in our environment first.

“We leave no stone unturned, we hold our players accountable for small details and make sure, when it comes to game day, they know what to expect and can execute the game plan and strategy.

“Whether we’re underdogs or the bigger team, we should be able to embrace that because we earned that right last season and we have to earn it again with our performances.

“It’s not just turning up thinking it’s going to be a walk in the park, no.

“We have to earn it with hard work, dedication, sacrifices, belief, and make sure everyone is fully prepared physically, psychologically, but more importantly, technically and tactically to give our squad a chance to be a success on the pitch.”

Elokobi knows last season’s FA Cup exploits are still fresh in people’s memories.

Their fourth-round win at Premier League-bound Ipswich at the end of January will never be forgotten.

But the manager has moved on and is focused on the present.

“I don’t think about last year at all,” he said. “That’s gone.

“It keeps coming up when we are still in the hat in the FA Cup but I don’t think about it.

“The players we had last season did an amazing job, they are history-makers and no one is going to take that away from them.

“But if you look at it, we’ve got almost an entirely new team, so can we now get this group of players to be a success without mentioning last season?

“That’s hard to say but it’s our job to focus on one game at a time, one training session at a time and try to help them be a success. That’s what we’re doing.”