Manager George Elokobi is staying grounded when it comes to Maidstone’s National League South title bid.

The Stones are third going into their New Year’s Day home game against Welling, just two points behind leaders Torquay.

That’s after extending their unbeaten run to 16 games with a 3-1 Boxing Day victory at Tonbridge, courtesy of goals from George Fowler, Aaron Blair and Matt Bentley.

Maidstone are firmly in title contention but Elokobi knows there’s a long way to go.

They’ve also suffered the blow of seeing attacking midfielder Antony Papadopoulos recalled by parent club Crawley.

The Welling game was due to be the final match of his loan, although Maidstone were hoping to extend.

“We take it one game at a time,” said Elokobi.

“We’re not getting carried away. As a manager, I never have because I know how quickly football changes.

“As a management team and a recruitment committee, we’re always looking at areas we need to strengthen in our squad.

“We’ve got to believe in the players and trust them in what they are doing but nothing is achieved at this stage of the season.

“We have to stay humble. We’ve got to keep our feet on the ground and keep working hard.”

Maidstone wanted to extend Papadopoulos’ loan but he returns to League 1 Crawley after scoring five goals in 20 appearances.

“I’m slightly disappointed but, of course, we understand when we got Paps in (that this could happen),” said Elokobi.

“We’ve been trying as a club to extend for the last six weeks and that wasn’t possible but we’ve got to look at the positives.

“What did Paps come here and do with us a player? More importantly, how he’s left our environment.

“I think he’s a better player so I want to say thank you to Antony for his contribution.

“I thoroughly enjoyed working with him and it’s important he left a better player, which I believe he is.”

Elokobi can look back with pride on a 2024 to remember for Maidstone.

They made headlines all over the world with their run to the last 16 of the FA Cup and that remarkable 2-1 victory at Premier League-bound Ipswich in round four.

And while they missed out in the play-offs, beaten by Worthing, the Stones are looking good for another promotion challenge after recovering from a slow start to the current season.

“As we all know, 2024 has been a historic year for our football club,” said Elokobi.

“It’s been a challenge coming back in pre-season and building a new squad.

“You have your challenges to settle the players in but we didn’t lose our focus, we stayed positive, even when we went through the little period when we weren’t scoring goals and creating as much as we should.

“We stayed calm, we made sure we made the right additions and kept believing in what made us successful in the first place.

“We know nothing is achieved at this stage but it’s important we look at the consistency levels, the effectiveness of the team and also how far we’ve come since the Chelmsford defeat (5-1 at home in September).

“As a group, as a manager, we are always looking to maintain those high standards and to ensure the players understand their roles and responsibilities.

“Everyone is pushing in the right direction and it’s important they enjoy themselves in the process.

“I think 2024 has been a very good year for Maidstone United Football Club and hopefully in 2025 we’re going to carry on where we left off by just staying humble.

“We’ve got to keep working hard and make sure we respect each opposition we come up against in our preparations, and then let the players go out and execute the game plan and play with freedom and enjoy it.”

Maidstone are without a game this weekend as scheduled hosts Weymouth are still in the FA Trophy.

They return to action at home to struggling Enfield on January 11.