Maidstone manager Jay Saunders already knows which players he wants to keep next season.

Saunders is putting contract talks on hold until United are safe in the National League but has been thinking things over.

He said: "I've got in my head the players I want to keep but we're in a position where we're not 100% safe so it's hard to make those decisions.

"We just need to get to the end of the season and work out where we want to go.

"I've got an idea who I want to keep but as for talks, I've put them on hold.

"I hope it's not a big overhaul. I said the other week you don't want to be signing 14 or 15 players.

"I don't want to keep losing players, like what's happened over the last couple of years.

"If you go through players who've left, Dan Sweeney is now Barnet's captain, Kevin Lokko went to the Football League and is now at Dover, Joe Pigott's at AFC Wimbledon and Zavon Hines is at Chesterfield.

"You look at that and go, 'Jesus, we've had some good players over the last few years.’”

A happy Easter should be enough to keep Maidstone in the league.

The Stones go into the holiday weekend six points clear of the relegation zone.

They host Hartlepool at the Gallagher today and visit Dagenham on Easter Monday (3pm) and could be virtually safe with back-to-back wins.

But that won’t be easy with Pools unbeaten in four games under caretaker boss Matthew Bates and on the verge of a takeover after much-publicised financial problems, while Dagenham remain a strong outfit despite their own money worries.

Saunders said: "Two more wins would see us safe, so we could be safe after the weekend but I don't want to pressure on that.

"There's seven games left and we need a couple of wins.

“Hartlepool have had a bit of a time of it this season but they were very good when we went up there.

"They've lost one or two players with their money problems but they've still got a very good squad.

"They've been good recently and there's a good spirit among the squad and they've scored a couple of late goals which shows you they're working hard for each other."

As for Dagenham, Saunders added: "You're always in for a game against them.

"They've had their money problems too but look at their squad and they've still got a good team even though they've lost a couple of players.

"They've got a very experienced manager in John Still and it's never easy going there.

"That said, we won there 2-0 last season and there's no reason why we can't go and do it again. The boys know what's expected of them."

Jai Reason (hip) is battling to be fit for the Easter games but Andre Coker (thigh) returned to training on Monday.