We need a good Easter, says Nott

Friday 02nd April 2010

MAIDSTONE UNITED boss Peter Nott has been boosted by the return of key players for this vital Easter weekend, writes Stephen McCartney.

The Stones slipped into the Ryman Premier League relegation zone following in-form Margate winning at fellow strugglers Carshalton Athletic in midweek, so wins over Hendon and Hastings United this holiday weekend is urgently needed.

Nott, who was speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk today, has revealed that wing-backs Nathan Paul and Jermaine Darlington are both available for selection for the trip to Wembley’s Vale Farm ground to play Hendon on Saturday.

“We’ve slipped into the bottom four for the first time,” said Nott. “In fairness, we’ve known the situation we’re in, that doesn’t put us under anymore pressure than we’ve already been.

“We’ve got the return to Nathan Paul tomorrow and we’ve also got Jermaine Darlington returning so it’s a good stage of the season with the run-in that they’ve both come back.

“We’ve only got now Chris Saunders that is injured. The rest of the boys are ready to play.”

Nott has targeted two wins over the Easter period to climb out of the relegation zone.

“We need a good Easter,” he said. “We’ve set our stall out to get six points over the Easter period. If we come away with four, it probably wouldn’t be the end of the world. We’ve got to be picking up those points very quickly now.

“We had a very good training session last night. The spirit is good. We had a serious bit and a fun bit as well. The spirit is good and I think the fact that we’ve got players returning as well it’s almost like having new signings at this stage of the season.

“It’s a good position to have a squad to pick from rather than the squad picking itself so we’ll have a very strong squad to pick from.”

Twelve games ago, Hendon came away from Homelands with a 3-0 victory and since then the Stones have collected two wins and four draws under Nott’s leadership.

“Hendon was our first game when we took over and they beat us 3-0 and I thought they were a very, very good footballing team but they've had some indifferent results,” recalled Nott.

“They had a good run to get themselves away from the danger although we know if we win tomorrow we will be three points behind them and all of a sudden they’ll be looking over their shoulders.”

Hastings United, meanwhile, have slipped down to sixth place in the table, as a result of winning one game in their last four, and Nott hopes his side can claim the points when the two sides meet at Homelands Stadium on Easter Monday (3pm).

“Hastings are a good team and their chasing hard for the play-off’s,” added Nott.

“We’ve got two very hard games and I feel with the squad that we’ve got out we can take the necessary points that we need.”

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

Hendon v Maidstone United

Ryman Premier League

Easter Saturday, 3rd April 2010

Kick Off 3:00pm

At Vale Farm, Watford Road, Sudbury, Middlesex HA0 3HG