Play-off fear drives Hak on
THREE MORE WINS WILL LAND STONES THE TITLE
Maidstone manager Hakan Hayrettin is desperate to avoid the lottery of the National South play-offs.
United remain in pole position to win the title following their 1-0 victory at Dartford on Easter Monday.
They’re four points clear of Dorking with four games to play, and visit Hemel Hempstead this Saturday.
The club, if not Hayrettin, would have settled for a play-off spot at the start of the season.
But with the quality of potential opponents in and around the top seven, what a bonus it would be to go up as champions.
“I wouldn’t want to be playing Dartford in the playoffs, I wouldn’t want to be playing Havant in the play-offs, I wouldn’t want to be playing Ebbsfleet in the play-offs,” said Hayrettin.
“I wouldn’t want to be playing any of them - I don’t want to be in the play-offs.
“But it’s one game at a time and my job is to keep them focused and level-headed.
“The mindset has to be right, the temperament has to be right, the discipline has to be right for the next game. The next one’s Hemel and it won’t be easy.
“I keep saying it but it’s not over. Me and Terry [Harris, No.2] are old enough and have enough knowledge to know there’s still a long way to go.
“We’ve won six in a row and we need to get as many wins as possible to make sure we don’t end up in the play-offs.”
Maidstone’s 2-1 defeat at Slough, which preceded their six-match winning streak, may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
Hayrettin laid into his side that day and they’ve been virtually faultless ever since.
The hard work the manager demands was never more evident than at Dartford where Maidstone suffocated the hosts into losing their unbeaten home record.
“I gave them a rollicking after Slough,” said Hayrettin.
“They let themselves down that day and they realised what happens when you take your foot off the pedal.
“It’s 11 versus 11 and if the other team work harder than you, they’re going to have a better chance of winning. Ability is always secondary to hard work.
“That day, we didn’t press, we didn’t play with any tempo, any intensity, but we have done since and that must continue.
“That’s how I want to play. I want to press, I don’t want to drop off and give teams momentum or time. Because we press, we put teams under pressure and that’s my philosophy.
“If you don’t work hard, you’re not going to achieve anything.
“You can have all the ability in the world but you need to work hard. That’s how I’ve been from day one and I’m not going to change that.
“We do work on our fitness but we’re not full-time, like people say, we do three mornings, and one of those is a recovery day.
“They could do that at home but we want to monitor them and keep them on their toes.”