Maidstone will climb out of the National League relegation zone if they beat drop rivals Maidenhead at the Gallagher tonight.

United were five points adrift when Simon Walton and Tristan Lewis took caretaker charge.

But two wins out of three have kept them in touch and there’s a chance to move above Maidenhead and up to 20th with a win.

Walton said: “There’s no point shying away from it.

“If we beat them we go above them or go out of the relegation zone, so it is massive, but I think there’s 18 games left so it’s not going to make or break our season.

“It’s not quite must-win just yet but it’s getting to that stage.

“We know as a group of players. They’re not daft, we’re not daft, people around here aren’t daft, it’s a massive game in terms of league position, catching up and points.

“So we won’t play it down but we’ll approach it exactly as we’ve approached every other game we’ve done so far - go out and enjoy it, express yourself and just learn from the slight mishaps that were there in the FA Trophy game.”

As important as tonight’s match could prove to be, Maidstone go into it level-headed.

Walton added: “You don’t get six points at the end of it, you get three points, it’s the same.

“As a group, there’s experienced people in there who’ve been around biggish games.

“It’s another game of football but everyone knows the outcome if win, everyone knows how much it will entail and how important it could prove to be.”

Maidstone welcome back Jake Robinson and Josh Taylor, who were cup-tied at the weekend, while George McLennan and Charlie Wassmer are set to return after injury and illness respectively.