More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Justin Amaluzor is determined to repay the faith shown in him by Maidstone's management and fire the club to promotion next season.
Head of football John Still and head coach Hakan Hayrettin identified Amaluzor as a key man in their rebuilding project after landing the winger on an 18-month deal from Braintree.
He's beginning to show what he's all about, scoring in the Stones' Kent Senior Cup semi-final win against Gillingham, followed by two superb goals at Harrogate.
The Stones are all-but down but Amaluzor intends to lead a National South promotion push.
He said: "Going back to full-time training, it took me a while to get up to the speed of things but I've been here a month or so now and I feel sharp.
"I feel like I'm at my best but this is just the beginning - I've got a lot more to show.
"John and Hakan think a lot of me and when I go out there it fills me with confidence to know they are behind me.
"When I go out there I feel free and if we do go down I just want to take the club back up to where they belong.
"I'm into the club, 100%. There's a lot of good people here and when I feel welcome I like to show love and that's what it is.
"I know I can do things here but I have to prove myself, like I did against Harrogate, more regularly.
"Next season's a big season for me.
"It's in my head a lot of the time because of where we are in the table and the amount of games left.
"You don't want to think too negatively but relegation is inevitable."
Relegation could be confirmed this weekend but Amaluzor says Maidstone will keep fighting.
He said: "You can tell by that performance against Harrogate we shouldn't be at the bottom.
"When I stepped into the club and looked at the players and the fans and the people, it baffled me how they were second-bottom.
"We've tried our best but things just haven't gone our way.
"We still have pride to play for, that's exactly what it is.
"Even if we do get relegated, we're still fighting for pride and we're still fighting for the fans as well.
"We'll never go into a game and play for nothing because there's always something to play for."
