New signing Reiss Greenidge is grateful for the opportunity with Maidstone after leaving Bolton.

Defender Greenidge had been without a club since League 1 Wanderers let him go at the end of last season.

He barely featured in two years with the Trotters, spending the 2021/22 campaign on loan at Barnet.

The 6ft 6in centre-back kept the faith, trained hard alone and got the call from Stones boss Hakan Hayrettin last week.

Greenidge said: “I’ve just been keeping fit, training hard, waiting for the next opportunity and luckily enough Hakan gave me that opportunity. I’m trying to make the most of it.

“It depends on the person how you deal with being without a club.

“I didn’t find it that difficult because I believe I’ll always get back in there, it’s just about finding the right opportunity at the time.

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"It was OK at Bolton. I was there in the Covid season and the second season I went on loan so I didn’t really get to experience the full atmosphere.

“It’s a nice club, a big club, I just didn’t get to play as much as I wanted to.

“I started the first game of the season in League 2 (Bolton’s promotion-winning season) and then found myself on the bench.

“You’ve always got to go into a situation optimistic and hoping you’re going to play but it doesn’t always work out like that. That’s just how it goes in football sometimes.”

Greenidge, who played for Arsenal and West Brom youth teams, knows the National League after his spell at Barnet.

His time at the Gallagher hasn’t started well results-wise - Maidstone losing 3-0 to Notts County and Southend - but he has the tools to be an asset.

“I know the league well from last year,” said Greenidge, 26.

“It’s a physical league, there’s a few top teams with massive budgets and Football League players and then there’s another side to it that’s a bit more balanced.

"A lot of teams go long and direct so hopefully my height can help at set-pieces and things like that.”

Maidstone host fellow strugglers Yeovil this Saturday and welcome third-placed Solihull Moors on Tuesday.

Greenidge has seen enough to believe United’s form will turn.

“We’re all pushing in the right direction and I believe it’s going to change,” he said.

“In this league, you win a couple of games and it looks totally different.

“We’re working hard with the coaches and we’re all pulling in the right direction, it’s just about the little details and a bit of luck.

“Once that turns, we can get a run together and make our way up the league.

“It’s still early in the season. We’re a third of the way through, so there’s plenty of games to go, we’ve just got to stick at it and I’m sure it will change quickly.”