Craig Fagan believes teenage striker Mark Boruk is close to joining the party as competition for places at Maidstone increases - telling him to play like Jamie Vardy.

Boruk, 18, made a big impact after breaking into the side under former boss George Elokobi at the end of last season.

He was linked with a move to Championship club Blackburn before signing his first Stones contract over the summer but has barely featured in the opening months.

Boss Fagan wants Boruk to concentrate on his strengths - seeing him in the mould of ex-Leicester striker Vardy - and not let speculation or team-mates’ attributes negatively impact him.

“Mark’s trained well and he’s going to be putting pressure on the other forwards,” said Fagan, whose National League South leaders visit Torquay on Saturday (3pm) and host Kent rivals Ebbsfleet on Tuesday (7.45pm).

“Sometimes with attention, you tend, as a young player, to believe the hype a little bit and go away from what brought you joy.

“Mark saw Ken Charles come into the building and then he was trying to do what Ken was doing in terms of hold-up play. But Mark’s not that. Mark’s a runner in behind.

“I keep telling him, Jamie Vardy, that’s what you should be doing, running in behind, getting goals off the shoulder and being competitive.

“He’s started getting back to that in training and he scored for the under-23s, which is good.

“He needs to play football as well, and then learn off the other strikers in a different way.”

Charles enjoyed a prolific pre-season and started the National League South campaign with four goals in the opening seven games.

He hasn’t found the net in seven appearances since but Maidstone’s No.9 still brings a lot to the table.

Stan Leech’s arrival on loan from Dagenham left Charles’ place as the focal point of Maidstone’s attack up for grabs, and he’s had to respond.

The former TNS striker was excellent in a 2-1 win over Maidenhead last weekend, setting up the opening goal for Leone Gravata and keeping defenders busy in a tireless display.

Fagan believes the goals will return with the right service, while Charles’ work rate can never be questioned.

“We haven't put enough crosses in, so that then starves Ken, who’s in the box and likes getting across the front post,” said Fagan.

“That was how we did well at the start of the season, so we need to do that more for him, but you saw against Maidenhead, he put himself on the line, he was selfless for the team, he ran the channels and was competitive.

“If he wasn’t winning the header, the ball was dropping for our midfield to land on.

“He doesn't get the recognition at times for what he does.

“He didn’t score but he gives us an opportunity to score, and that's what it's going to be about this season.

“If we're going to be up there, we need goals from Ken, from Stan, from everywhere.

“We were backed in terms of bringing Stan in, which was good.

“He hadn’t played much this season, so we needed to get him fitter, and the signs are there that he is getting fitter.

“We need that competition for places.

“If Ken was the only striker, naturally, with the way the human body works, you think you’re going to play every game. Now Stan’s there, it puts pressure on in training.”

Maidstone have won 12 of 16 league, FA Cup and FA Trophy meetings against Torquay in the past decade, losing just once.

They look to continue their hold over the Gulls at Plainmoor but Fagan knows history counts for nothing, and he’s also expecting a reaction from Jimmy Ball’s side after their FA Cup defeat by Oxford City last weekend.

“You can never guarantee anything,” said Fagan.

“Torquay going out of the FA Cup doesn’t help us because they’ll be getting a foot up their backside this week in terms of getting back to the league.

“They get big crowds there and they’ll be wanting to win, so we have to put on a performance like we did against Maidenhead.

“You can talk about past results against them but it’s a different manager now, the same as myself, and a different way of thinking about things.

“I just want us to go there with the mindset of being the best version of ourselves and not thinking about the record too much.

“We’ve got a new group, so they shouldn’t be thinking about stuff like that. We should just be trying to impact ourselves on other teams and the league as much as possible.”