I'v got to make sure we get it right at Hastings, says Hume

Sunday 27th December 2009

MAIDSTONE UNITED travel to Hastings United on Monday afternoon with joint-boss Lloyd Hume looking for his players to respond to their Kent Derby defeat on Saturday against Margate, writes Mike Green.

Talking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk and BBC Radio Kent after Saturday's defeat at Homelands, Hume admitted that, "when I look at the two teams on paper I have genuine belief in my players and that there should be only one winner" he said.

"But Margate were the better side today – they defended more resolutely than us, they cleared the ball better than us and they gave us less chances. You know sometimes we can be a bit of a pushover and we were today!"

"We now face a difficult game at Hastings on Monday especially as we’re not performing at the moment, but when I look around the dressing room I wouldn’t swap any of my players, but they’ve got to start having belief in themselves and I think that they get beaten too easily sometimes.

“It almost a case of playing the big games and the big teams and we’re up for them and compete – we look like a very good side, but when we play teams in the bottom half of the division we don’t perform anywhere near our maximum potential in terms of quality – I look at some my players and yes there was endeavour there today but was there any quality? The answer was no and we went good enough and I’ve got to make sure that we get it right on Monday."

Hume, mindful of how tight the Ryman Premier league currently is, went on, "I said to the players that we need three points to get us back into the Play Off hunt.

“Now we need a different type of three points as we need three points to get us away from the bottom part of the table.

“It’s very, very tight right through the division – we’ll only be four or five points off the Play Offs but we’re only three or four points above the relegation zone, so we’ve got to make sure that we start picking up points quick.

“And we’ve a fantastic opportunity to bounce back against Margate in a weeks time but come Monday at Hastings its my job to make sure that their heads are raised, and we’ve got some belief – I can’t keep telling them they’re good players they’ve got to start believing it!

Pilot Field was of course the ground that the Stones sensationally burst into the Ryman League on a couple of years ago - not that that will phase Hume come kick off time.

“Yes, we’ve got a decent record down there but Tony Dolby’s doing a good job for them and they’re a very well organised side especially after their late draw at Tonbridge today.

“But I say this all the time – its not about the other teams, its about us and how we perform and I genuinely wouldn’t choose any of their players over mine, but today the neutral would have chosen the Margate side all day long, so I’ve got to question my players what exactly they’re doing for 90 minutes – do they concentrate enough are they focused enough to follow the instructions that I give them, and on a day like Saturday I don’t think that they do.

“My weekend now will be to focus on putting the right team out on Monday afternoon to make sure that we get a result.

“We’ve got a huge amount of games coming up in the next six weeks and its important that we don’t take a losing habit over Christmas into those games Its important to break this run very quickly (one win in their last seven matches) and I’m glad that we get another chance to break the run very, very quickly and we need to make sure we perform starting at Hastings on Monday.”

Visit Maidstone United’s website: www.maidstoneunited.co.uk

Hastings United v Maidstone United

Ryman Premier League

Bank Holiday Monday 28th December 2009

Kick Off 3:00pm

At The Pilot Field, Elphinstone Road, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 2AX