George Elokobi has urged Maidstone to make home advantage count in their play-off eliminator.

The Stones will be roared on by a big crowd at the Gallagher when they meet Aveley tonight (7.45pm).

They’ve been strong at home, losing only three National League South games in front of their own fans.

One of those was against Aveley, 1-0 in September, but manager Elokobi knows the impact a rocking Gallagher can have on his team.

He said: “It’s a big bonus being at home in front of our fans.

“It makes such a difference when you’ve got your home crowd behind you. We’ve seen that this season. It’s not just having the supporters, it’s the noise they make at the Gallagher Stadium.

“The players thrive off it and I’m sure that will be the case on Wednesday. Hopefully, by the end of the game, we’ll have done enough to progress to the next round of the play-offs.”

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Maidstone finished fourth after beating Hampton 5-1 on Saturday while Aveley snatched seventh with a 2-0 home victory over Bath.

The Essex side did the double over United in the regular season, winning the home game 2-0, helped by a wonder strike from ex-Stones winger Razzaq Coleman De-Graft.

“We have to make sure they don’t make it three wins against us,” said Elokobi. “They’re a good side, we know that, and we’ll show them every respect in our preparation.

“The important thing is we carry on our momentum from Saturday and how we went about that game as a group.

“Our approach doesn’t change. We won’t put any pressure on our group of players as a management team.

“I want them to play with freedom, like they’ve done all season, and I want them to learn from the mistakes we’ve made.

“We go into the play-offs in good form and with a good nucleus of the squad to choose from. We’ll be ready.”

Braintree scored an extra-time winner to beat Bath 1-0 in last night’s first eliminator, setting up a semi-final at Chelmsford on Saturday.

The winners of tonight’s tie go to Worthing on Sunday (3pm), with the final taking place on Monday, May 6.