Maidstone manager Jay Saunders claims it will be 10 times harder to win promotion if they miss out this season.

That’s the warning from the Stones boss as his side prepare for the National League South play-offs.

Stones complete the regular season at home to Bishop’s Stortford on Saturday, 3pm.

They’re at Truro in the play-offs on Wednesday night (7.45pm), with the second leg at the Gallagher next Sunday (4pm). Saunders believes this is their best chance to go up, pointing to the struggles of last season’s semi-finalists, Basingstoke and Havant.

He said: “If the players give it their all and we fall short, I’ve got no issues with that.

“What I don’t want is a repeat of the Sutton league game where we froze and didn’t do ourselves justice. We can’t afford to let that happen again.

“I’ve told the players they’ve got to learn from that and not let the play-offs pass them by. They might not get this chance again. It will be 10 times harder if we don’t do it this year.

“The second season up is always harder and you’ve only got to look at the bottom of the league this year.

“Basingstoke are down and Havant are struggling to stay up, having both been in the play-offs last year.”