Maidstone United have all but ruled out paying transfer fees for new signings.

Stones have been frustrated in their search for two strikers to replace injured duo Alex Flisher and Jay May.

That wasn’t expected to change before the New Year’s Day derby against Tonbridge but Maidstone aren’t prepared to throw money at the problem.

They had their fingers burned two years ago after buying Stuart King from Folkestone – he left after an unhappy spell – and don’t want it to happen again.

Boss Jay Saunders said: “I don’t think we’d pay a fee for anyone.

“If it’s someone who will really make a difference and be here for a few years then maybe but I don’t think it’s a road we’ll go down.

“We did it once before and it didn’t work out. It sounds silly but I’ve looked at pretty much everyone.

“You’ve always got a list of players you like in case something happens, especially forwards. We need to get two in after losing Flish and Jay.

“They’ve scored a lot of goals between them and any team would miss two key players.”