Dominic Odusanya says Maidstone players would die for manager Hakan Hayrettin.

Odusanya, who’s scored in successive games since returning to the starting XI, opened up on the relationship Hayrettin has forged with his squad after Sunday’s 2-0 win over Tonbridge.

Hayrettin has transformed the team’s fortunes, leading them from 10th to the top of National South in a matter of weeks.

Their run of six consecutive wins has been built on a strong work ethic which requires everyone to be on board.

It’s easy to tell a team to work hard but Maidstone players have responded to their manager.

“Fair play to Hak,” said Odusanya. “He’s done so well because it looked like we were on a downward slope.

“But he said, ‘Boys, keep working hard’ and he got more and more out of us and all of a sudden the results turned around and it’s no coincidence because he said to us you work hard, you get results, and it’s happened.

“There’s proof, there’s numbers, he’s nailed down on it, he’s had us tracked at training, you slip, he’ll know, there’s no room for anyone to be complacent.

“He never takes his foot off the gas, that’s how he is as a person.

“He never gives you a chance to breathe. If he wants something done, you do it a hundred times over.

“All managers, all over the country, will say to their boys work hard but there’s a way you can get it across, a way that players will respond to.

“I feel like Hak knows individually all his players very well so even though he hasn’t got time to babysit anyone, he knows how to speak to people to get the best out of them.

“Some managers don’t, so they’ll say work hard, you have to work hard for me, but no one wants to work hard for them.

“On the flipside, with Hak, everyone, the whole team, we’d all die for him.”

Midfielder Odusanya had barely featured since the early weeks of the season before being named in the team to face Welling last week.

After capping an impressive performance with a goal, he retained his place against Tonbridge and scored again.

He hadn’t expected the call but quickly got the nerves out of his system.

“I had no idea I was going to play against Welling,” said Odusanya.

“But if Hak puts me in, I believe that he believes I’m good enough to play, and that’s enough for me to get through 90 minutes.

“As a player it’s worse when you don’t have a lot of time to think about it because you go through phases where you’ll be a bit nervous and then you get your head screwed on because you’ve done it a million times before.

“But when you don’t know and you get chucked in, it’s like ‘Oh my God, I’ve forgotten how to play football’ and you have to find yourself quickly, otherwise the game can be a scary place to be.

“I was really happy to stay in the starting XI against Tonbridge and really happy to score again as well.

“The boys were amazing, the management are all amazing, they really do take care of us, so it allows us to go out there and enjoy ourselves.

“We’ve gone top and that’s what comes with it. It’s a long season, we’ve got a lot of hard work to do, so being top now is amazing but the train goes on and the hard work has to carry on.”

Five players are vying for three spots in midfield, with Odusanya and the returning Jake Gallagher competing with Sam Corne, Michael Phillips and Regan Booty.

Odusanya wouldn’t have it any other way.

He said: “I feel more comfortable in an environment when everyone is a good standard because there’s no room for error, there’s no room for you to drop that 0.5 per cent.

“No one wants to drop but everyone’s human and sometimes you might slip if you feel ‘Oh, I’m playing next week anyway’ so it’s always good to have competition.

“It pushes everyone, it pushes the whole squad and keeps everyone chomping at the bit.”