Maidstone United manager George Elokobi vows to keep speaking up after serving touchline ban in 1-0 defeat by Chippenham Town

George Elokobi took his medicine as Maidstone lost to Chippenham but will continue to speak up for the club.

Stones boss Elokobi watched from the stands while he served a one-match touchline ban for picking up three yellow cards.

They lost 1-0 in his absence from the dugout, with a drab National South game settled by Jake Evans’ first-half strike.

He’s looking forward to being back in the technical area at Tonbridge on Boxing Day and won’t shy away from making his point.

“I’m going to say this, if I’ve got something to say, it won’t stop me saying it,” said Elokobi.

“I’m an honest manager and if I see something I need to speak about on behalf of my football club and my team, I will say it.

“It’s how I see it and it’s how officials receive it.

“I’ve served the ban, which is good.

“It might not be the last time but it was important I respected the ban. I’ll be back - and I am back now.”

The touchline ban gave Elokobi a chance to watch from a different perspective while assistant manager Craig Fagan and head of recruitment Zach Foster-Crouch took charge from the touchline.

There were no issues on that front but Maidstone didn’t perform, suffering a second successive league defeat after last weekend’s 5-1 beating at Worthing.

“We knew I was going to be sitting in the directors’ area and it was important I trusted the players,” said Elokobi.

“I thought Craig and Zach got the message across to perfection in terms of how we wanted to do things.

“It was a chance for me to watch from a manager’s perspective without being too emotional and see the team dynamics.

“I keep going on about relationships and partnerships on the pitch because it’s important for us.

“There might be a few tweaks here and there and it’s important we try and