One of Jay Saunders’ big challenges at Maidstone is to oversee the transition to full-time football.

Boss Saunders, who signed a new deal last week, is looking at training three mornings a week next season.

United intend to make the move, whether they stay up or not, but as a National League club Saunders knows it would help attract players.

He said: “It’s the way football is going in non-league.

"Even down to the Ryman Prem, Dulwich Hamlet train mornings and there’s a few in Conference South doing it.

“Most clubs want to go down that route.

"It’s surprised me how many players I’ve not been able to sign because they want to train in the daytime.

“If you’re trying to bring players out of the Football League, which is what you want at this level, you’ve got to be training daytime because that’s all they know.

“It’ll be good for the boys in the academy, too, because we’ll have them training with the first team."

Saunders' priority is keeping Maidstone up but he'll work on next year's plans whenever he can.

He added: "In an ideal situation we’d pull ourselves out of the relegation zone and be safe with a few weeks left and that then gives you the chance to plan.

"My main focus is on staying up but when we’re not planning for games we’ve got to start looking at how we’re going to make it work next season."