Teo Kurtaran is determined to bring more joy to Maidstone fans after his stunning winner at Dagenham.

Kurtaran collected a pass from Sam Oguntayo and carried the ball forward before firing home off the post from 25 yards as the Stones picked up a 2-1 victory.

It was the perfect way to mark his first National League South start and his first experience of seeing Maidstone supporters celebrating a win.

A run of four successive defeats without scoring didn’t deter almost 300 away fans from making the trip to east London and their backing was rewarded with Kurtaran’s strike.

“The fans, just from the game I watched before I signed, it’s something I want to be part of,” said midfielder Kurtaran.

“I want to impress them, I want to bring joy to them, I want us to win for them most importantly.

“It’s really good for the fans to sing my name and get behind us like they always do.

“It’s pretty impressive the amount of them that travel to away games.

“The home support we know is amazing and the away support as well.

“At this level you don’t get this support often so it’s something I want to thrive under.”

Kurtaran, who had a brief spell at Walton & Hersham this season while training with Maidstone, has bought into manager George Elokobi’s training methods.

Elokobi and his staff work the players hard in preparation for games and it’s very much to his liking.

“I’ve found it really good,” said Kurtaran.

“It’s up there with the hardest training I’ve ever done at a club, especially because we’re hybrid, we’re not full-time, so it makes it difficult to cram everything in.

“I think the coaches do a great job of getting everything in that we need to do and the boys, their attitude is always really good to train hard.

“There’s no complaints in terms of the boys’ mindset and the coaches’ mindset.

“They want it more than any coaches I’ve played under in terms of demanding from us and, as players, we want to repay that.

“I know they want the best for us.

“A lot of coaching staff might want the best for themselves and of course they want the best for themselves, but they really demand us to become better players, better people, and it’s just an environment I want to grow in.”

The quality of Kurtaran’s goal at Dagenham last Saturday is a clear sign he should try his luck more often.

He’s not shy in training and needs to replicate that willingness to shoot in matches.

“The results haven’t been what we wanted or what we’ve been working hard for,” said Kurtaran.

“So I’m happy to get a goal in my first league start but I just wanted the three points - that’s all that mattered.

“I’m a player that in training I can do that but in games I don’t shoot as much as I probably should with my striking ability.

“I thought I took it well, so I’m happy with the three points, happy with the goal and hopefully it’s the start of many more wins.”

Maidstone, 3-0 winners at Herne Bay in the Kent Senior Cup on Tuesday, host Chesham in National League South on Saturday (3pm).

Sign up to our Non-league Football newsletter and you can enjoy all the best bits from KentOnline every week direct to your inbox! To sign up, click here