Raphe Brown feels he was unfortunate to be sent off on his 100th appearance for Maidstone United.

Defender Brown starts a three-match suspension at Hornchurch on Saturday following his dismissal in the 1-0 defeat at Eastbourne Borough on Tuesday last week.

He was shown a straight red for a sliding challenge in front of the Boro dugout - and feels the reaction played a part.

“I don’t think it was a dangerous tackle, or high, I wasn’t the last man,” said Brown.

“I think it was one of those cases of you’re playing away, their whole bench jumped up, all their players ran towards me and it kind of swayed the ref. I think I was unlucky with that.

“I would say a yellow at max but what can you do?

“It’s very annoying because there aren’t many games left, I’ve just got back in the team and playing well and now I’m out.

“But I’ve got to keep my head down in training, stay fit and be ready for when I’m back.

“Charlie (Seaman) even said to me before the game, this is your 100th game, don’t do anything silly. I think he kind of cursed me.”

Long-serving Brown made his Stones debut in a 1-0 FA Cup win at Hendon at the start of the delayed 2020/21 season, a campaign that was eventually curtailed due to the pandemic.

He made a big impact, playing left-back in his early days, although centre-half has always been his favourite position.

Brown would have reached 100 appearances a long time ago but for some rotten luck with injuries.

Indeed, he missed an entire year with an ankle injury.

“I’m very grateful to make 100 appearances for this club,” said Brown.

“It should have come quicker but these things happen. That’s football.

“It’s an honour to get 100 appearances and hopefully long may it continue.

“I’ve enjoyed every moment of playing for Maidstone.

“It’s an honour to play in front of these fans, they come to all the games and it’s a lovely club to play for.”

There’s all to play for in the National League South promotion race in the final weeks of the season.

United go into the weekend occupying the final play-off spot, with seven points between first and seventh.

After visiting Hornchurch, they host current leaders Dorking on Tuesday in another big game at the Gallagher.

“We’ve just got to worry about ourselves,” said Brown.

“We can’t look at the other teams and what they’re doing.

“We’ve just got to make sure we win all our games and see where that takes us.

“We can only control in-house and that’s what we do.

“We train well, we prepare well for games and go out and try and win.

“Every game now has to be a win, every game’s a cup final.

“We were so close last year, we just missed out, there’s players who experienced that, and we brought players in who won the promotion last year, so we’ve got the talent and experience here to go all the way.”