Wasteful Stones punished
Manager George Elokobi highlighted missed chances after Maidstone’s defeat at Havant last weekend.
The Stones were on course for victory at the break after another goal for in-form striker Matt Rush.
But a series of opportunities went begging and they paid the price as relegation-threatened Havant won 2-1 with a Ryan Seager double.
Defeat saw Maidstone drop a place to fourth in National League South, with the Hawks still second-bottom despite five wins in seven games since sacking former Dartford manager Steve King.
“We had so many chances,” said Stones boss Elokobi. “We were in control in the first half. “In the second half, when you’ve got chances like we created you’ve got to put one away at least.
“If we don’t we need to be more organised and more switched on and I don’t think we were in the key moments and we paid the price.
“We’ve come away from home and created as many chances as I can remember.
“No one is perfect, we’re going to miss chances.
“It was all about managing the second half effectively and I didn’t think we did that in key moments.
“We have to learn from it. I said we were coming to a place that’s difficult to get a result and we’re going to have to be at our absolute best and do the basics right in both boxes by making sure we stay alive and if we’ve got one or two chances we must capitalise.
“There were plenty of positives but we have to look at some of the negatives and if we don’t we aren’t doing our jobs.” Maidstone visit Slough on Saturday (3pm) and host Braintree on Tuesday (7.45pm) before facing Ipswich in the FA Cup Fourth Round.
Injuries have made it a challenge to keep a settled side but those coming in have to show their worth.
Elokobi said: “I’m trusting others to come in and do a job. “Are they up to it? I don’t know yet. They have to prove it to us. “To be honest, they’ve tried but it has to be consistent, they have to make sure they are doing their bit away from the main sessions to ensure when they’re called upon, they don’t look a little bit rusty at certain moments.”