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Sport

Maidstone United manager George Elokobi warns players not to be distracted by FA Cup First Round win ahead of return to National League South action at home to Eastbourne Borough

By: Matthew Panting mpanting@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 05:00, 07 November 2023

Maidstone boss George Elokobi has urged his players not to have any FA Cup hangover.

The Stones booked a Second-Round tie against League 2 Barrow with victory at Chesham United on Saturday.

Devonte Aransibia celebrates scoring the opening goal for Maidstone at Chesham on Saturday. Picture: Steve Terrell

But they return to National League South action at home to Eastbourne on Tuesday night at the Gallagher.

Maidstone sit seventh in the table, eight points behind leaders Yeovil, although they’ve played fewer games than most of the teams around them.

Elokobi’s men have six league games plus one FA Trophy tie to navigate before they return to FA Cup action.

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“We understand the magnitude of the league games,” explained the Stones boss. “We’re going to be playing against teams who are as good as us so on the day we have to be right.

“We need to enjoy the win on Saturday and then switch our attention to Eastbourne on Tuesday night.

“We’ll make sure we look after our players, we have to recover and make sure we don’t get too carried away with this win.

“We need to switch our attentions quickly to Eastbourne and try to ensure there is no hangover. They’re a good side, we take no-one for granted and come Tuesday night we’ll be ready.”

There could be a Maidstone debut for striker Matt Rush, who was cup-tied at the weekend.

Maidstone’s Michael Petrasso gets an early shot away against Chesham. Picture: Steve Terrell

It’s now 10 games without defeat for the Stones, albeit they’ve drawn their last three league matches.

Elokobi added: “It’s about making sure we are effective in our performance, and that everyone is playing a key role.

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“They need to know their jobs and responsibilities within the unit, everyone knows their role in and out of possession.

“Are we perfect? No, not by any means, there’s still work to be done. We’re young and we’ll keep developing the group.

“We don’t take anything for granted, we’re still learning, still improving, still making a few additions to the squad like we did with Matt Rush to give us a foothold in the league.

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“We want to make sure as a squad we are stronger and so we can rotate the team as best we can to keep everyone fit and hungry.

“Also knowing it’s a long season, nothing is won at this stage of the season, we’ve got to stay competitive and make sure we keep grinding out results away from home and when we’re at home to pick up maximum points, a minimum one point.”

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