Manager Harry Wheeler has warned Maidstone fans he is prepared to win ugly.

Wheeler's defensive approach has been questioned by supporters and there's discontent over long-ball football.

They have willing workers up front in Elliott Romain and Jake Cassidy who will run and chase things all day long.

And Wheeler isn't afraid to go long to them, feeling it could be the way to get his struggling side out of trouble in the National League.

He used the Stones' second-half performance in their FA Cup defeat by Oldham to highlight the merits of route-one football.

Wheeler said: "We’ve got to learn to do the right things in the right areas.

"We had four chances second half, three from hooking the ball on, one from a diagonal ball from our own half.

"They didn’t come from little tiki-taka passing.

"The games we’ve won we’ve been very direct and it’s something we might have to do again to go and get results."

Meanwhile, Maidstone have signed 19-year-old defender Jarvis Edobor on a month’s loan from Championship club Brentford.

The 6ft 3in youngster played against them in a pre-season friendly in August and operates at centre-half or full-back.

Maidstone have also signed former Dagenham striker Dylan Florence, the youngster making his debut as a late substitute against Oldham.

Wheeler said: “He’s a young lad I had at Dagenham for two years.

“He’s a great goalscorer and I think he got a pro deal there.

“He’s been training with us to keep fit and he’s done well.

“He deserved to be on the bench in the FA Cup.

“He’ll be around, when and where needed.

“We’ll manage it and we’ll discuss it with him and see when the right times are.

“But he probably needs to go and play some games lower to get some more education in first-team football."