Maidstone captain Ben Williams will miss the start of the new rugby season while he completes a six-month spell out of the game.

Williams, nicknamed ‘Fridge’, is sidelined on medical advice after suffering a series of head injuries last season, including a heavy blow against Canterbury in a cup semi-final.

He’ll sit out the London 1 South opener at home to newly-promoted Old Colfeians on Saturday and will be missing for a few more weeks.

Coach Mike Hebden, who expects a stronger league this season, said: “Fridge will be out until the third week of September.

“He’s fine but he had a bad head injury against Canterbury and ended up in hospital and he had two or three before that. He was given medical advice to sit out six months but a lot of it came from Fridge himself."

Vice-captain Adam Knight will lead the side in Williams’ absence.

Maidstone have strengthened over the summer, signing centre George Perry, utility back Ryan Copp, scrum-half Jack Leach, tight-head prop Tom Mount and back-row Jamie Farris.

They finished mid-table last season, having targeted a promotion push, but league position isn’t the be-all and end-all this time.

Hebden said: “Maybe we were a little narrow-minded last season to set a clear goal in terms of where we wanted to finish. We set our goals high and didn’t finish where we wanted.

“We are ambitious and still want to get back to the National League. That is on the agenda but to do that the whole club needs to be ready for the National League rugby.

“It’s not just the 1st XV, it’s the seconds and the under-17s and under-18s coming through.

“This year we’ve decided to focus on improving the culture and ethos at the club. We want to be a great local club for the community."