Captain Stuart Lewis has warned careers are on the line as he fires up Maidstone for a relegation fight.

United have three games to survive in the National League, starting with AFC Fylde at home on Saturday.

Lewis says there can be no repeat of Tuesday's performance at Solihull and has called on his team-mates to work harder than ever.

He said: "We've got to stand up and be characters, individually and collectively.

"We can't be shrinking violets - we have to be prepared for what's coming.

"We need results and we've got to pull together as a team and maybe a few home truths need to be said because that's important in football as well.

"But on the other hand we have to stay positive and attack these last three games.

"Our preparation has to be right, how we live, everything has to be right in the next two weeks because there's livelihoods and careers on the line here and that's how serious it is.

"None of us want a relegation on our CV because that's not good enough.

"We all have to pull together because we've all got families that are on the line and that's how important this is becoming."

Lewis was in the Wycombe team who escaped relegation on goal difference on the final day of the League 2 season four years ago.

He's the man for a scrap and says Maidstone will learn from the experience if they survive - just like the Chairboys have.

He said: "You look at Wycombe now and the rest is history, they're probably going to become a League 1 club, they learned from the mistakes and the negatives of that season as a club and moved on from there.

"That's what we've got to do. We've first got to deal with these next three games and then assess everything in May and June and kick on as a club.

"I'll be giving everything I can and I'm sure everyone from the gaffer to the coaching staff will be doing the same but talk's cheap and we have to go and show what it means to us on the pitch.

"This is about big characters now and this is about doing it rather than talking about it.

"One thing the manager at Wycombe said was to keep believing.

"If you chuck the towel in now then you've got no chance.

"What we have to do is dig even deeper and run harder and do everything harder than we've ever done before because that's what it's going to take."

Lewis didn't hide away from the performance at Solihull and felt for Stones supporters who made the midweek trip to the West Midlands.

United simply didn't compete with Moors, according to the skipper.

He said: "When you're away at Solihull Moors on a cold northern night, you have to roll your sleeves up and match their work rate, you have to do all the ugly side of the game and there wasn't enough of us that were prepared to do that and it wasn't a good enough performance.

"It was nowhere near the level required from anyone and I felt for the supporters, who were great.

"It was hugely disappointing but we have to stay positive and keep working and try and get some results in the next three games.

"We've got to look at everything we're doing and make sure we put all our efforts into these three games.

"If we do that, I believe we will get the results needed to stay up."