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Maidstone United caretaker manager George Elokobi on this weekend's FA Trophy Quarter-Final tie against Barnet

Caretaker boss George Elokobi is predicting fireworks as Maidstone attempt to reach the FA Trophy Semi-Finals for the first time.

United put their National League struggles to one side when they face Barnet in a Quarter-Final tie at the Gallagher Stadium on Saturday (3pm).

Maidstone United caretaker manager George Elokobi. Picture: Steve Terrell
Maidstone United caretaker manager George Elokobi. Picture: Steve Terrell

The Trophy has given Elokobi his best moments since taking temporary charge, with Maidstone beating Notts County on penalties in his first game, followed by a 4-0 victory at Eastleigh in the last 16.

Barnet are the highest-ranked team left in the competition, sitting fifth in the National League, but have been in poor form themselves of late.

There’s all to play for, with the winners just one match from Wembley.

“It’s a one-off game and it’s about the 90-95 minutes you play on the day,” said Elokobi.

“We have to approach the game right and do the basics well.

“We have to make sure we are nice and compact in areas we want to be and also set up right in terms of our approach, tactically, to make sure we impose ourselves against a good Barnet side.

“It’s not going to be a walk in the park.

“There will be fireworks on Saturday - definitely - and we expect it to be a good battle.

“We have to battle and if we win the battle then we can impose ourselves.

“We can’t think too far ahead. The game starts at 0-0. Once the seconds start ticking we’ll see how we’re getting on and at the end of the game we’ll know where we are.

“Our job is to prepare the team and make sure we can help the players operate from a good tactical plan.”

Maidstone can certainly take confidence from their performances in the FA Trophy, including their demolition of Eastleigh last time out.

Their display that day showed they can live with the better sides in the National League, but Elokobi warned: “That’s history. You can’t live in history.

Maidstone won 4-0 at Eastleigh in the last round. Picture: Steve Terrell
Maidstone won 4-0 at Eastleigh in the last round. Picture: Steve Terrell

“The next game is against a good Barnet side and that’s what we’re going to look forward to.

“Every single game means something to myself but it’s not about me, it’s about our football club, and I’m sure our players will be looking forward to it as much as our fans.

“We’ve got to make sure we look after the players now.

“They need to recover from Tuesday night (2-1 defeat at Wealdstone) to be fresh, physically and psychologically, for a good test.”

Captain Jerome Binnom-Williams returned from a calf injury at Wealdstone but there are no further injury updates.

Key midfielder Regan Booty has missed the past four games but would love to prove his fitness after being named in the provisional England C squad for their game against Wales C later this month.

England boss Paul Fairclough is due to name his final 16-man squad after the weekend.

Maidstone will only include Booty against Barnet if he’s right.

“The medical team will advise me and the management team on Regan’s availability,” said Elokobi.

“He’s an important player but we don’t want to risk any player for one game.

“We need to make sure when a player comes back, they are right and can put in an effective performance.”

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