More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Hakan Hayrettin is taking Maidstone's defensive frailties personally going into the Boxing Day derby at Tonbridge.
The Stones have lost 16 points from winning positions this season, a worrying trend that threatens to hit their National League South play-off chances.
Mistakes have largely been to blame with United conceding last-gasp goals against Bath, Braintree, Hampton and Dartford over the past couple of months.
They lost another lead on Saturday, going down 3-2 to Dorking, and head coach Hayrettin is determined to get to the bottom of it, even if it means calling head of football John Still at midnight.
Still thinks Hayrettin just needs to calm down but that's easier said than done.
"I've been doing this job for over 25 years," said Hayrettin.
"The one thing I’ve learnt is when I get in that front door, I try and switch off.
"I’m intense until I get to that point and when I leave my house, wherever I’m going, I’m intense again.
"The problem we face at this football club at the moment is our players are giving their maximum but we've got to try and eradicate those mistakes from their game.
"Do we take it personally? Of course we do.
"My point is I can’t switch off at the moment because it’s something which is chipping away at me, so I’m taking it home with me.
"I’ll be phoning my mate, John, at midnight sometimes and he's laughing at me, but that's the job.
"Until we can eradicate that, then I’ll be that intense.
"We have a saying, never too high with success, never too low with failure, but that won't take away from the fact we want to win just as much."
Tonbridge sit just outside the bottom two halfway through the season.
They've been no strangers to late drama themselves and are a making a good fist of their first campaign back in National South after a five-year absence.
Hayrettin is looking forward to a special Kent derby atmosphere at Longmead.
He said: "Whoever this club plays, the atmosphere is fantastic.
"The Kent derbies I've been involved in, Ebbsfleet, Gillingham, there's been great atmospheres.
"We've just got to be ready. Tonbridge are a decent team and a good club."
