Maidstone boss Jay Saunders had a feeling it was going to be Jamar Loza’s day.

Loza was brilliant in the 4-2 win over Southport on Saturday, scoring twice and setting up Joe Pigott as United moved five points clear of the National League bottom four.

Saunders said: “I pulled him before the game, I had a feeling he was going to score.

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“He had a quiet game Tuesday night but he’s had some great performances here.

“Probably his end product’s been missing but today he’s unfortunate not to come in with three goals.

“The thing I’ve been on at Jam about is his end product.

“He’s just got to sharpen up on those final bits and if he gets that, he’ll be a hell of a player.”

United were four games unbeaten after the midweek win at Dagenham but started slowly and trailed struggling Southport after three minutes.

Saunders felt it was a mental problem but they came good, with defender Kevin Lokko scoring the other goal as Maidstone moved up to 19th.

The Stones boss said: “It’s a big result. It’s nice to get back-to-back wins - it’s been a long time coming.

“After the first 15/20 minutes, did I think it was going to come? I’d have thought no because we weren’t at our greatest in the first half but we dug deep and got the result we needed.

“Today, and I spoke about it before the game, I think mentally it was very hard because I feel you’re on a hiding to nothing.

“Everyone’s on a high because we’re four unbeaten, we beat Dagenham, who are second in the league, and then you’re coming here and you’re just expected to beat Southport because they’re eight without a win and it puts pressure on you.

“We try and gear the lads up to be mentally right and I thought we weren’t for the first 15/20.”

Read the match report from Maidstone's 4-2 win over Southport