George Fowler says a weight has been lifted with Maidstone’s victory at Scunthorpe.

Fowler returned to the starting XI, replacing suspended captain Gavin Hoyte at right-back, as United won 2-0 at Glanford Park on Saturday.

It was their first win in 13 National League games and lifted them out of the relegation zone.

Fowler, who’d sat out the previous seven games after suffering a shin injury at Barnet, said: “We’re fully aware that we started all right this season and then we came off it for a couple of months.

“That’s not good enough. That’s not the standards we set.

“We know as a group we’re capable of a lot more.

“It’s a weight off your shoulders to get the win because it can get on top of you when you’re losing a lot and shipping a lot of goals.

“The clean sheet is massive for us as well, for confidence reasons, especially in the back four.

“We know we can do it and that’s the standard we need to keep.

“We need to use that result as a stepping stone.”

Fowler was back in the side after the FA rejected Maidstone’s appeal against Hoyte’s red card at Eastleigh.

Comfortable at right-back, as well as centre-half, he made the most of his opportunity, leaving manager Hakan Hayrettin with a decision to make against Oldham this weekend.

The chance to play, and win, made it a perfect weekend for the former Aldershot man after a difficult spell.

“It’s brilliant to be back and I’ve missed that winning feeling,” he said.

“The boys deserved it but also the fans who have been supporting us through a tough couple of months.

“I feel good. We had a friendly against Bromley last week, and I played 45 minutes in that.

"I’ve been training for a couple of weeks, so I was ready for the full 90 and I was buzzing to be back out there.”

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Fowler had a feeling it was going to be Maidstone’s day after a less-than-ideal journey north on a replacement coach, with their normal team bus out of action.

They’d have had a ready-made excuse there and then had the game gone badly but, if anything, the trip galvanised them.

Fowler said: “It’s down to us as professionals to do what we can so we’re right for when it comes to game time.

“I said I bet we win now because sometimes when things aren’t going right and there’s potential excuses there, it ends up being all right on the pitch. I just had a feeling we'd win.

“It wasn’t ideal preparation but the boys were brilliant.”