Jay Saunders praised Maidstone’s resilience in their win at Dagenham on Tuesday night.

The Stones weathered some heavy pressure to leave Victoria Road with a 2-1 success.

Blair Turgott’s double sent them on their way to a first victory of the season, with Elliot Romain pulling a goal back.

The Daggers have had much-publicised financial problems but were still a good side.

Stones boss Saunders said: “I know people say Dagenham have lost players but it’s always a tough place to come.

“They worked really hard and had some good chances in the first half.

“We weren’t really firing again in the first half, which is something we need to look at, but sometimes you have to dig deep.

“We did that and I always fancied us with the quality we’ve got to create something.

“Were we at our free-flowing best, if you’re comparing it to the second half against Hartlepool?

“Probably not but it was a different sort of game. It was a game where we needed characters.

“Dagenham fought for every ball, first and second, and never really let us settle.

“You’ve got to give them credit for that but fortunately we had a bit of quality from Blair each time when it mattered.”

Saunders confirmed defender Will De Havilland came off midway through the first half with double vision.

He was already nursing a black eye from Saturday’s draw with Hartlepool and was down early on after throwing himself into a header.

Saunders said: "He was quite honest and said he had to come off.

"I thought Jordan Wynter came on and was excellent, made some good clearances.

“He’ll be OK, WiIl, it was more precautionary than anything.”

Read the match report from Maidstone's 2-1 win at Dagenham