Maidstone boss Jay Saunders felt the time was right to rest Manny Parry and hand Callum Davies his debut.

Parry had been ever-present in National League South's best defence before being left out for Davies as United beat Margate 2-1 on Saturday.

The former Stoke youngster, who joined from Grays last summer, has been one of the signings of the season for Stones.

But Saunders decided a break would do him good.

The Maidstone manager said: "I just felt with Manny he’s had a couple of mistakes and I felt his confidence was a little bit low.

"I had a good chat with him beforehand and said to him he’s 21, he’s going to make mistakes.

"He’s someone I’ve got a lot of time for and I’ve put a lot of trust in him and he’s repaid that.

"He’s been outstanding for us but sometimes when you’re young and you make a couple of mistakes it plays on your mind and I feel for him it’s probably a good time just to have one or two games out and come back stronger from it."

Former Gills defender Davies was playing for the first time since a loan spell at Eastleigh was cut short last September.

He managed 90 minutes alongside Jamie Coyle but was feeling the effects.

Saunders said: "I thought Callum got better as the game went on. It’s difficult, he’s not played for quite a while.

"He’s just said in there he can feel his legs but I thought he grew stronger and he’ll get used to it.

"He started a little bit shaky, that’s from getting used to things and there were probably a few nerves, but he got better as he went on."