The Stones play their first home game tomorrow afternoon in the second qualifying round of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.

Tori Campbell’s side face Richmond & Kew, a team that scored 11 goals in the previous round of the competition. Despite that comprehensive win against Epsom & Ewell, they’ve struggled in the league so far, losing their opening three games – albeit by just a single goal in two of those.

Maidstone have played one league game – a 5-0 victory against Margate last weekend, which followed a 5-1 win in the first qualifying round of the Women’s FA Cup. Hopes are high ahead of tomorrow’s match.

“We are really looking forward to the game,” said the Stones’ boss. “We’ve gone a round further than last season, but we don’t want to stop there. It’s all about progression, and hopefully we can do a job this weekend and get our name in the draw for the third qualifying round.

“It’s a great competition to be involved in, and although you know it’ll be one of the big hitters that wins it next May, the challenge for clubs at our level is to get through the qualifiers and into that first round. It’s a tough ask, but who knows? I’m putting no pressure on myself or the team – we can go out there, enjoy the game, and see what happens come full-time.”

After an away day in the previous round, there are home comforts for tomorrow’s match.

“When the draw came through and we were at home, I was over the moon,” said Campbell. “These are the games you want to play at your own place, and hopefully we can get some of you down to watch and cheer us on. We had good numbers last season, and hopefully we can start where we left off. We’re potentially 90 or so minutes away from the last qualifier, and to get there would be amazing for the girls.

“We’re on a high from last Sunday’s league match. I was delighted with the result and the performance. The new signings have come in and fitted in really well – it doesn’t feel like a team that’s only been training and playing together for a few weeks. You can’t judge much after one league game, but those I thought would get off to a good start have, and it’ll be interesting to see how the table looks after five or six games.”

Please come down to the Gallagher tomorrow afternoon and support your team. Admission is £5 for adults, £3 for concessions, and free for under-16s. Turnstile 3 will be open from 14:00.