Maidstone United defender Temi Eweka on this weekend’s National League South play-off final at Boreham Wood

Temi Eweka isn’t surprised to see Maidstone in the National League South play-off final.

The Stones go to Boreham Wood on Sunday (12.30pm) having already negotiated two difficult away games.

They were underdogs at both Worthing and Eastbourne in the eliminator and semi-final stages but recorded 2-0 and 2-1 wins.

The belief in the squad made those results possible and United head into the promotion decider in great spirits.

“If there was any team you knew would be able to do it, it was us,” said centre-half Eweka.

“Away from home, I don’t know what it is, we’re outstanding.

“Because we’re so close-knit and we’re a good bunch of lads, it’s like that gladiator mentality, no one’s going to beat us and we stick together.

“We just find belief in the littlest things.

“At Worthing, it was when I’ve cleared it and Aaron Blair’s gone through and held it up and brought people into play and you’re thinking, ‘I fancy us here’.

“Then, at Eastbourne, Ben Brookes smashed their winger in the first few minutes and screamed in his face and we’re buzzing off that. It just got us going.

“Is it luck? The gaffer’s got to do his research on who he’s signing but you never know what sort of blend people are going to be when you put them together.

“You can think ‘I’m signing 10 good lads’ but you can bring them into the changing room and one’s not playing and turns into a bad egg and it upsets the apple cart.

“But we’ve all been fantastic with each other from day one.

“I know from the outside looking in it hasn’t always seemed like that because on the pitch at the beginning of the season we looked like we didn’t know each other.

“I’m a football fan myself and if I was watching my team play the way we were playing, I wouldn’t have had much belief.