Maidstone United manager Craig Fagan’s new-look team are showing the commitment levels he demands

Commitment is one of the biggest traits Maidstone manager Craig Fagan looks for in a player - and he likes what he’s seen so far.

Fagan has spent wisely in the summer transfer market to ensure he brings the right type of characters to the club, players who will give their all for the fans.

United can’t compete with some of the big-spending sides in National League South in terms of finances but a well-coached, committed team can still deliver results.

The Stones continued their encouraging start to pre-season with goals from Riley Court, Ken Charles, Ryan Hanson and a trialist in a 4-1 friendly win at home to Welling on Saturday.

“It’s one of the other sides of football, handling the budget and making sure you’ve got enough money to last the season, and not overspending on players,” said Fagan.

“Hence the reason I’ve talked about having people that want to be here because we don’t want to be overspending on people that aren’t sure. That’s the main thing.

“We need commitment from everybody and from what I’ve seen so far, I think the fans will be happy with the commitment of the players.

“At the end of the day, they pay their money to watch a team that’s committed, so the least they should be doing is running around and fighting the battle for the fans. That’s the kind of people we want here.

“I was having a conversation with an old manager of mine in terms of if you’re going to have an imprint on a team, it’s that, as long as we come off the pitch having given our all and you end up losing the game, but we lose the right way, you can take a loss.

“I think there were a couple of times last season where we lost games and it didn’t feel like the players came off having given their all.

“We’re not going to win every game,