I’m fully committed
Caretaker manager George Elokobi vowed to be there as long as Maidstone need him after leading them into the FA Trophy Quarter-Finals.
The Stones upset National League play-off contenders Eastleigh 4-0 in their own backyard on Saturday to move within two wins of a first Wembley Final.
They’ve been drawn at home to Barnet in the next round on Saturday, March 11.
Elokobi is approaching six weeks in temporary charge following Hakan Hayrettin’s sacking, with the performance underlining his management credentials.
It’s game by game for the former
Stones skipper, who can see the progress his side are making.
“If I’m not told anything, I carry on - it’s as simple as that,” said Elokobi.
“Behind the scenes, we’re going to keep working until someone tells us different.
“The most important thing we’re focused on is to keep building these players, to keep giving them belief and to keep preparing them physically for games.
“We know how good they are tactically, we know how good they are socially, and psychologically the group is very, very resilient now.
“We showed a lot of character to come to a good side like Eastleigh and perform the way we did and last week we performed quite well against a good Yeovil team (2-2 draw), so there is plenty this group is offering at the moment. “So, we have to carry on as a management team to keep motivating them and giving them those tactical plans, based on the reports we get back, in preparation for Oldham away on Saturday.”
Maidstone raced into a 2-0 lead inside 11 minutes, with goals from Sha’mar Lawson and Regan Booty.
Eastleigh were reduced to 10 men when skipper Aaron Martin received a second booking just past the half-hour mark and Maidstone turned the screw with Roarie Deacon and Jerome Binnom-Williams completing a great afternoon’s work. Victory sent Maidstone through to the last eight for the fourth time in their history - the furthest they’ve ever been in the Trophy.
Elokobi said: “I was called by Terry Casey, Oliver Ash and Bill Williams to help this football club. “I got my team together and from what we can all see, we are slowly making prowess. Is it going to be 4-0 every week? No. But today we got our just rewards.
“We’ve been creating chances and not taking them but today the boys executed those chances. “It’s about having that composure and a calmness in front of goal and we showed that. “It wasn’t just the chances, the manner in which we played was excellent to watch.
“On the pitch, the players were having fun and that’s what we want them to do but, at the same time, staying professional and making sure we do our jobs individually and collectively as a group.
“The three units - the defensive unit, the midfield unit and the attacking unit - they all worked superbly together and the link-up play was amazing to watch.”