Player-of-the-year George Fowler says everyone is on trial at Maidstone United.

The Stones are four games into their pre-season campaign, with three matches to play.

Manager George Elokobi is still to show his hand with their National South opener against Slough just over two weeks away.

He’s regularly fielded large numbers of trialists as he looks to finalise his squad for a promotion bid.

That’s all part of the process as Maidstone, beaten 2-1 at Bromley on Tuesday night, get ready for the season.

“In a way, it’s not just the trialists, it’s like a trial period for all of us,” said defender Fowler, who signed a new deal this summer.

“It’s a chance to impress every time we play a game or train.

“At the minute, we want to show the gaffer and Craig Fagan, the assistant, what everyone’s about.

“We want to paint a picture in their heads for what they’re thinking come the start of the season.

“Starting positions are up for grabs and everyone’s got an opportunity to show what they’re about.”

Fowler missed the Bromley game with a wrist injury, sustained attempting a bicycle kick in the Stones’ 2-1 defeat at Leatherhead on Saturday.

The former Ipswich man was the runaway winner of Maidstone’s player-of-the-year vote last season, a shining light in a disappointing campaign that ended in National League relegation.

He showed his versatility playing in his favoured central defensive role and covering at right-back in the absence of Gavin Hoyte.

With Hoyte back from a dislocated shoulder, Fowler hopes to spend more time in the middle.

“I haven’t spoken to the gaffer regarding positions but the friendlies I’ve played have been at centre-half,” said Fowler.

“I played a lot at right-back last season.

“Personally, I’ll be looking to play a little more at centre-half but, at the same time, as long as I’m playing I’m happy.

“I can do both roles well and I like having that versatility in my game.”

Maidstone look stronger defensively than anywhere else on the pitch, with Fowler, Reiss Greenidge, Sam Bone, Raphe Brown and Hoyte all signing new contracts.

Left-back Jerome Binnom-Wiliams departed but former Millwall youngster Chi Ezennolim, who signed from Welling, is seen as the ideal replacement.

With the players at his disposal, Elokobi has options to switch formations.

“We could do a back three as well,” said Fowler.

“We tried that a bit last year - we tried a lot of things to try and find something that worked for us.

“We’ve got the personnel for a three, a four, or a five.

“We’ll be trying different formations in training and the rest of the pre-season games to find what suits us best, to make sure we’re as strong as we can be come the start of the season.”

Maidstone went five months without winning a league game last season, finishing bottom of the table.

But it’s a fresh start as Elokobi begins his first full year in charge and the Stones, having learned from the experience, are ready to move on.

Fowler said: “We want to make we don’t repeat those bad occurrences from last year but, to a large extent, last season has been forgotten and it’s a clean slate for us all as a team and as a club.

“We’re going through pre-season and we’re looking forward to the new season.

“Training has been intense, which is good.

“In the short term, it’s not enjoyable but in the long run, it will be good for us.

“Having a gaffer who’s a bit of a machine, he’ll have been at the top of the pre-season running and gym activities in his career.

“It’s certainly been intense but everyone’s relished it and all the new lads have come in with good fitness levels.”

Maidstone visit Horsham this Saturday (3pm) and host Folkestone in their penultimate friendly on Tuesday (7.45pm).