Ollie Muldoon knows from experience what makes John Still such a good manager.

Maidstone midfielder Muldoon, then a young player at Charlton, had a loan spell under Still at Dagenham three years ago.

He’d been due to join him at Luton, only for the veteran boss to leave Kenilworth Road before the move went through.

Still didn’t forget him, though, and once he knew a return to Dagenham was on the cards, he asked Muldoon to go with him.

His debut came in the FA Cup third round at Everton and he enjoyed playing under Still.

Muldoon said: “I had a lot of time for him. He helped me a lot, he gave me games and he pushed me on.

“He told me I could do this, do that, and he brought me out my shell a bit going from under-23s football at Charlton to men's football playing in the Football League.

"Motivationally, he's very good. He gets you going but he'll also give you a kick up the backside if you need it.

“I was linked with Luton but I got injured and he left there.

“He then texted me over the Christmas period and said do you want to come with me to my new team and it ended up being Dagenham, which was right on my doorstep, and Everton was my first game."

Still is used to operating at the top of the table, having won the Conference three times, but Muldoon believes he’s just the man to help Maidstone out of trouble.

He said: "He's got a wealth of experience in football and this league and getting teams promoted.

“He's got loads of ability to help players and help us out of the situation we're in and it'll be good for us to push on and hopefully get ourselves out of the ditch.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s been brilliant with Si and Tris (caretaker managers Simon Walton and Tristan Lewis).

“They gave the boys belief and we picked ourselves up and went on a little run.

“Hopefully John Still can add to that and we can climb the table.

“There's so many points to play for still and it comes down to wanting it.

“All the boys want it, we don't want to go down in this league.

“We know we've got a job on our hands but I have every belief we can do it.

“If the club are appointing John Still, their intentions are we do want to stay in this league."

Maidstone visit Salford for a rearranged FA Trophy tie tomorrow night.