Maidstone United manager Hakan Hayrettin says there's no need to moan as he stresses importance of getting behind the club

Hakan Hayrettin has urged Maidstone fans to get behind their team as they ride out a difficult patch.

The Stones are in the National League relegation zone for the first time this season after seven games without a win.

A 1-1 draw at home to fellow strugglers FC Halifax on Saturday ended a run of four defeats but there were boos at full-time to go with rumblings of discontent on social media in recent weeks.

While boss Hayrettin accepts some of his signings haven’t worked out as hoped, the negativity baffles him just a few months on from winning the National South title.

He knew exactly how hard it would be this season, saying in the summer that staying up would be like winning the league.

He hasn’t changed his opinion and wants to see everybody united behind the club.

“There’s no need to moan,” said Hayrettin, as Maidstone prepare to visit Southern League Needham Market in the FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round this Saturday (3pm).

“What people need to do is get behind the ownership, get behind the players, get behind the club and support them.

“If they’re going to moan, there’s got to be a reason. Why are they moaning?

“We haven’t got the money, we haven’t got the structure, we haven’t got the budget to compete with some of the teams in this league.

“We’ve got what we’ve got. Get behind the team. It was an unbelievable achievement to get promoted and now we need everybody in it together, not pulling in different directions.

“They need to know now if we’re going to do this, we need to be a collective.

“What are people moaning about? I said it would be like winning the league if we stayed up.

“I know the job and I know the level, I’ve been here before. We want to progress but that might take a season. The first thing is to