Big interview with Maidstone United manager Craig Fagan on the eve of his first season in charge of the National League South club

New manager Craig Fagan is looking forward to putting his plan into action when Maidstone United start the National League South season this weekend.

After seven wins out of seven in friendlies, Fagan takes charge of his first competitive game with United hosting Farnborough at the Gallagher Stadium on Saturday (3pm).

His brand of attacking football produced 27 goals during pre-season and now it’s time for the real action to begin as Maidstone look to mount a promotion challenge.

“I’m excited. I’m looking forward to it,” said Fagan, who landed the manager’s job after three years as former boss George Elokobi’s No.2.

“We’ve had a half-decent pre-season in terms of trying to get people as fit as possible without picking up injuries.

“We’ve played some good stuff at times, which is important.

“I spoke at the start of pre-season about the identity we wanted as a team and I know the players are looking forward to getting out there for the first game and trying to play the football which we’ve done in pre-season.

“Yes, it’s a different test playing against teams in our league but we’re looking forward to it.

“There’s going to be disappointment in terms of players not being in the starting XI but, as we know, it’s a squad game, so if they’re not starting the first game, the chances are they will be involved the rest of the season.

“We don’t have a massive squad. Everybody will be involved.

“The players we’ve signed can play in a number of positions.

“It’s no secret we don’t have the budget of the top six or seven clubs, so we’ve tried to be clever with it.

“We’ve got players that can play in different positions, so if there are injuries we can get away with it. We’ll see how we go.

“It’s going to be tough this season, with the