Taylor Foran says Maidstone are coming on leaps and bounds as he celebrates a year at the club.

Foran, who turned 23 on Wednesday, has been a big success since arriving initially on loan from Bromley last October.

Supporters immediately took to the centre-half after his commanding performance as a half-time substitute in a 2-1 win at Dagenham and within weeks he’d signed an 18-month contract.

He continued to impress under former boss George Elokobi and was named one of three vice-captains by Craig Fagan for the 2026/27 National League South campaign.

It’s been an excellent start to the season, with Maidstone a point clear at the top after 11 games under Fagan and Rob Tuvey, with a trail of big-spending clubs behind them.

“The year’s gone fast, it really has,” said former Arsenal man Foran.

“I've thoroughly enjoyed all of it.

“Obviously, it started under George, who gave me that platform to express myself and show what I'm capable of.

“And then now, under the new gaffer, I feel like we're coming on leaps and bounds and we’re obviously still top of the league.

“Hopefully we can take that and keep going with it for the rest of the season.”

Fagan has retained Elokobi’s defensive principles, so nothing has changed in Foran’s role from that point of view, but he has the added responsibility of being part of the captaincy team.

He was an obvious choice with his leadership skills and vocal presence, qualities that stood out on his debut and remain a big part of his game.

“I’m just trying to step up into more of a leadership role this year, being in the leadership team and just rallying the boys when it gets deep, said Foran.

“I still feel like I'm one of the most vocal boys in the team. Bringing that energy and enthusiasm from the back line gives the boys in front of us a lot more belief that they can go and do something.

“I feel like this year I've definitely improved on that and hopefully I can take it on for the rest of the season.

“I'm still young, so hopefully that will be one of my strengths going forward for the rest of my career. I can only get better at that, really.”

Maidstone have been top of the league since beating Weston at the Gallagher on September 5.

It’s early days, of course, but they deserve credit for their flying start.

“We still have a long way to go but it's nice,” said Foran.

“Teams are going to be gunning for us now even more than before.

“We just have to be ready and raise our levels, as we know we can, and get the wins. We try and take it one month at a time.

“As the gaffer always says, try not to look too far ahead. We see it as one-month blocks.”

Maidstone won 2-1 at Horsham last Saturday, thanks to Nana Boateng’s penalty and an 87th-minute Tom Leahy goal.

They’d been without a game the previous weekend, having gone out of the FA Cup, but used their time on the training ground to put successive league defeats behind them.

“The break helped us massively,” said Foran, speaking after the Horsham victory.

“The last two weeks we’ve had at training have probably been our best two weeks since pre-season.

“We’ve been ready to go, ready for the next game, and I think that showed.”