Maidstone have blown their Ryman League, Division 1 South title chances – despite a midweek defeat for their big rivals.

That’s the verdict of manager Jay Saunders (pictured) as he mentally sets about preparing his team for the end-of-season play-offs.

United’s hopes appeared to be over after they lost at home to play-off chasing Faversham last weekend. But Dulwich missed the chance to go six points clear with three games left when they went down 1-0 at Leatherhead on Tuesday.

Stones boss Saunders, whose side face away matches at Walton Casuals on Saturday and Chipstead on Tuesday, still thinks the title race is over.

He said: "I told the players before the game on Saturday that if we beat Faversham, I honestly believed we’d win the league. The reason for that was I thought Leatherhead would beat Dulwich.

"They were 2-0 up with a few minutes left when the first game was abandoned and mentally it’s tough to go back and have to win it all over again.

"But I can’t see Dulwich losing two matches, not with the form they’ve been in. It would be asking too much.

"Don’t get me wrong, it would be great if it happened and we could take advantage. But we’re just acting like we’re going to be in the play-offs after losing to Faversham. That’s what we’re preparing for now.