Fabio Saraiva has enjoyed his best week in football.

The midfielder scored his first-ever hat-trick in Maidstone’s 4-2 win at Wingate & Finchley on Tuesday and three days earlier he grabbed a last-minute winner as United beat nine-man Grays 1-0.

And all after he expected to be leaving the club on loan.

Saraiva said: “I’ve been in and out of the team but that goal at Grays really helped. I said to myself I knew I’d be starting at Wingate and it gave me extra confidence. It was a great feeling to get the hat-trick.

“I’d never even scored one playing kids’ football. I did hit the bar once when I was on a hat-trick but that was the closest I’d been before Tuesday.”

It’s taken injuries to Alex Brown, Michael Phillips and Nathan Campbell to get Saraiva in the side. The 20-year-old hopes he’s done enough to earn a run in the team.

He said: “I knew it would be a step up for me when I came in from Merstham. We have so much quality that you have to take it on the chin if you’re on the bench."

Read the full interview in Friday's Kent Messenger.