Vas Karagiannis has hailed Maidstone manager Jay Saunders for giving him the confidence to entertain.

Karagiannis has scored seven goals and laid on many more with his devastating set-pieces since joining from Leatherhead last December.

Playing from the right, the Greek winger loves nothing more than running at players and cutting inside on his left foot.

He’s given Maidstone another dimension and puts his performances down to boss Saunders.

Karagiannis, 24, said: “I believe if you work hard, everything will come.

“In football you learn every time and especially here with a gaffer like Jay.

“That’s why everything has been good for me, because of the gaffer.

“He makes me confident. He just leaves me to play.

“Before the game, he says ‘Vas, enjoy it’ and when you have a gaffer like this you can only enjoy it.

“There’s no pressure, he just tells me ‘Vas, enjoy it and work hard.’

“That’s it and that’s what I try to do, just listen to him.”

While Saunders makes him tick, the buzz of playing in front of more than 2,000 fans at the Gallagher gets Karagiannis through games.

He said: “It’s the first time I’ve played with beautiful fans like this. They shout my name through the game and give you all the energy.

“Sometimes I’m asking myself ‘where does this energy come from?’ and it’s because of the fans.

“They’re beautiful, so beautiful. Every time I score I want to celebrate with them because they’re so beautiful."

Read the full interview in this week's Kent Messenger