Maidstone travel to Ramsgate for their final pre-season match on Saturday and joint-manager Lloyd Hume wants the players to treat it like the first game of the season.

Hume (pictured) and fellow manager Alan Walker will select a starting XI who could begin next weekend’s Ryman League Premier Division opener against Carshalton – and they want a good show.

"At this stage of pre-season I want to see performances," said Hume. "I want to see enough in the side to give me the belief that we are going to start the season the right way.

"We’ve got to treat the game like it’s our first of the season."

Hume does acknowledge, though, that any problems at Ramsgate would be far better than the following week.

"If we are going to put in a shocking performance I would rather it would be this Saturday than next week against Carshalton," he added.

The Stones will miss Jay Saunders and Roland Edge through suspension at the start of the season and they are therefore unlikely to start this weekend.

*Former Maidstone defender Chris Smalling has been called up to the England under-21s. Smalling, who plays for Fulham, has been selected by Stuart Pearce for the squad ahead of next Tuesday’s game against Holland in Groningen.