There’s been big interest in the Maidstone manager’s job, co-owner Terry Casey has confirmed.

But George Elokobi is the man in possession as caretaker boss and that’s set to remain the case, with Casey describing him as an “absolute master”.

Casey and fellow co-owner Oliver Ash couldn’t be happier with Elokobi, who’s led the Stones to FA Trophy victory at National League leaders Notts County and pushed second-placed Wrexham all the way in his two games in charge.

There’s no reason to change anything amid interest from “literally hundreds of people”.

“George has done two things,” said Casey.

“He’s got the team tactically well-organised and he’s got them absolutely believing in themselves.

“George is an absolute master at that. He’s a motivator.

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“He believes in people and makes people feel good about themselves.

“He’ll get 10% more out of a player than anyone else will because he’s got that type of skill, that type of management skill.

“He’s caretaker manager - that’s his status for the time being. We haven’t had any longer-term discussions.

“He’s made the squad happy, the place is up, it’s lifted and he’s got people feeling good about themselves.

“He’s got a real gift, that’s for sure, and we’re delighted with what he’s done so far.

“We’ve played the top two teams in the league and beaten one and had our pocket picked by the other.

“We couldn’t have done an awful lot more in those games. We did really well in both.

“All the crowd went home appreciating that those players worked their socks off for the team, the crowd and the manager.”

Applications to succeed Hakan Hayrettin, who was sacked a fortnight ago, have been flying in.

Some serious, some not so.

Casey said: “I don’t deal with that, to be honest, but I’m told there are literally hundreds of people interested and applying but there’s a very wide range of people.

"There’s a lot of people interested but at the moment we’re just going to concentrate on George.

“We’ve got a massive job on to try and get out of the relegation places and we’re totally focused on that now.

“If we pull it off, they’ll erect a statue of George in the High Street.”