Target men Leon McKenzie and Aaron Gayle are doing battle for the centre-forward vacancy in Maidstone United’s new-look squad.

Both players were given 45 minutes to stake their claim in Tuesday’s 2-1 pre-season friendly win against Tunbridge Wells.

McKenzie, who ended last season with Concord Rangers, opened the scoring at the Gallagher Stadium and could have had a hat-trick.

Meanwhile, former Tonbridge striker Gayle showed flashes of quality after the break although his finishing was wayward.

Stones boss Jay Saunders said: “We are looking for a big lad and I thought they both did well.

“You can see Leon’s a physical presence, he’s a big lad, he got himself a goal and he put himself about a bit. He needs to work on his fitness a little bit; obviously he’s not really been at a club this pre-season.

“Aaron is probably a little bit fitter and quicker. It’s hard, you’re judging people on 45 minutes and they’ve not even trained with us (prior to Tuesday).”

The next chance for the trialists to impress comes on Saturday, when the Stones host a Charlton Athletic XI at the Gallagher Stadium.

Picture: Steve Terrell