Maidstone's players have been warned against repeats of last Saturday’s lacklustre performance against Margate.

Stones did well to extract a point from a 1-1 draw against their relegation-threatened Kent rivals with joint-manager Lloyd Hume insisting the club still have plenty to play for.

He admitted: "There was a reading of the riot act afterwards because we won’t tolerate that level of performance. We don’t want any player at this club thinking they can wind down while thinking of the holiday beach.

"From my point of view the performance was totally unacceptable and if there are any repeats, then we’ll drop senior players in favour of bringing in some of our youngsters.

"We have eight games remaining. Win six, which is not beyond the realms of possibility, and we could find ourselves in the play-offs. So there is still plenty to play for.

"We’ve a difficult match on Saturday at Carshalton, who are focused on the play-offs, but we’ll be looking for a determined response."

Stones will be without defender Peter Hawkins as they attempt to extend his loan from Ebbsfleet until the season’s end.

"We’re reasonably confident that the Ebbsfleet manager, Liam Daish, will agree to extend," said Hume. "But he will not be available for the weekend."

With midfielder Elliot Bradbrook likely to miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury, Stones re-signed Ryan Royston this week from Ramsgate. He goes straight into the squad for tomorrow’s (Saturday) match at Carshalton and is likely to start.

"We’re pleased to welcome Ryan back and I would think there is every chance he will start on Saturday," said Hume.