George Elokobi says Maidstone players have taken his comments on the chin.

The Stones boss spoke out after a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Slough on Saturday, saying “something needs to change, and I’m going to change it”.

He also called on senior players to take a leaf out of teenager Riley Court’s book.

Elokobi wanted a reaction against Aveley on Tuesday night but his side lost again, beaten 2-0 by the relegation-threatened visitors.

They’ve fallen seven points behind National League South leaders Dorking, in sixth place, after successive losses.

Maidstone didn’t play well against the Millers, conceding two poor goals and struggling to create a decent chance.

However, there was no sulking among the squad following the manager’s post-Slough remarks.

“They took that on the chin but for one reason or another we haven’t got the result against Aveley,” said Elokobi, who takes his side to Hemel Hempstead this Saturday (3pm).

“I told them the magnitude of the final 15 games of the season.

“This is the business end of the season. Nobody cares about the first 30 games.

“This is the business end where everyone is fighting for something.

“When you come up against teams they are fighting for something, ie, they want to try and climb into the play-offs or they want to survive, so if you’re not at the races you get punished.

“Again, I look at our defending from restarts. Not enough heart, not enough desire to want to win first phases and second phases.

“However, we have to learn and we have to move forward and be positive because there are still plenty of points to play for.

“Come Saturday, we know where we’re going, it’s going to be a difficult place but we have to get to work straight away, myself and the management team, to prepare for that game.”

Maidstone appeared to have ironed out their early-season habit of conceding from restarts as they embarked on an 18-match unbeaten run.

But it’s crept back in over recent weeks during a run of two wins in seven games.

They’ve also struggled for goals in that spell, scoring just three times.

That, too, must change if promotion is to remain a realistic prospect.

“It looks like we’re not confident about where we are at the moment and we’re second-guessing ourselves,” said Elokobi.

“We’ve got good players, a good team but we have to show that when we come out.

“We have to show heart, desire and bravery to get on the ball.

“We have to take risks, we’re playing within ourselves too much. I want us to take risks but in the right areas.

“That wasn’t there in the first half (on Tuesday) but I’m not taking anything away from Aveley.

“They came with a good plan. We have to look at ourselves, take the positives and go from there.”