Soccer
Craig Fagan's Maidstone United are ready to prove a point after being counted out of the promotion picture
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The National League South will hit its finale on Sunday when Maidstone United travel to Boreham Wood for the division's Promotion Final - a game you can see live on DAZN.
The race for promotion has been fierce this season, and while Truro City were crowned champions, any one of six teams could have finished top on the final day; however, Maidstone weren't one of them.
The Kent side finished seventh, booking their place in the play-offs, but with little fanfare from those outside of the Gallagher Stadium - something assistant boss Craig Fagan believes his side have used for motivation.
Speaking exclusively to DAZN News, the former Hull City winger believes that with the focus off his Maidstone side, they felt less pressure going into the play-offs and used it to push on through the eliminator and semi-final wins.
"I think the group, myself and George weren't really feeling the pressure," Fagan said.
"I think the group were more motivated because every time we kept seeing any league table, it was our name that got cut off, and then it was sixth place and above - but you know we were involved at the end of the season.
"So the lads have used that for motivation to get to where they are now.
- Read next I Luke Garrard believes making home advantage and momentum count is key to Promotion Final victory
"In the play-off final, we were counted out, and so they're kind of using that to push.
"So there was no real pressure, we were in it and obviously we dropped out, but we knew the nucleus of the squad we had, how together they were and the never-say-die attitude, as we saw the same against Eastbourne, that we do okay once we're in there.
"We've proved this season that we've maybe let points slip against teams that are below us or towards the bottom end of the table, but when it comes to playing the bigger teams that are around us or above us, we then tend to give a better account of ourselves."
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The format of the National League South play-offs will see Maidstone travel to Boreham Wood for the final, giving their opponents a perceived home advantage in the tie.
However, having already grabbed a point at Meadow Park this season, Fagan feels that with the Stones' vocal support behind them, it won't have any affect on his team.
Adding, "I think if it were anywhere else, it might be a disadvantage, but one thing I would say is obviously Arsenal ladies and Arsenal under 23s play on their pitch, so it's a benefit in terms of that it'd be a great pitch.
"But when our fans travel, they travel in numbers and they are loud. So the way we see it is a home game in terms of that, because of the support,it's a one-off game.
"I think if we had a smaller section, like when we played Worthing in the previous season, when we got knocked out, we only had a small part of the ground, this season we had a little bit larger - and it does make a difference.
"With it being a final, it's a one-off game, and I'm sure our fans will be even louder than they have been because we do have tremendous support.It's going to be an exciting day for both teams."
Fagan has been a successful part of the coaching set-up, which is led by manager George Elokobi. The pair met as teammates whilst at Colchester United and says they are all about improving the players they have at their disposal, and are so close, that even the manager's wife is wondering who he's constantly talking to!
"It's been good working with George because he cares. He wears his heart on his sleeve like I do," Fagan explains.
"We're eager to learn, both of us, and we do a lot of work away from the training field. Maidstone Untied
"We watch a lot of games. We go and watch games. We have conversations all the time. I think his partner probably thinks that he's having a secret relationship with someone else, but it's me, the amount that we talk about football and stuff like that.
"Listen, we care about the club that we're at in Maidstone, and we want to make it better. We want to improve things on and off the pitch. That's always been the mindset from when I came here. He's hungry to get better, improve, and make people better.
"We want to make these young players better and give them a chance to have careers in the game, and that's all we're trying to do. We're trying to give them an opportunity to be with us or go and at least play higher in the Football League or the National League.
"It's about improving players, improving men, treating people as people, and trying to make people learn. It's been very good working with him."
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