Caretaker boss George Elokobi felt Maidstone deserved something from their relegation tussle at Torquay.

The Stones missed the chance to climb off the foot of the National League at the Gulls’ expense, with Aaron Jarvis scoring the only goal 11 minutes from time.

A ninth straight league defeat - three of those under Elokobi - further hit their survival prospects.

Maidstone are now seven points from safety - effectively eight with goal difference - and have played four more games than Oldham, who sit just outside the relegation zone.

Elokobi, though, was upbeat after a performance he believes merited a share of the spoils.

“Our assessment of the game as a management team was positive,” he said.

“Yes, the result might look to people that weren’t here a bit negative but we are positive.

“We’ve spoken to the group to make sure we pick ourselves up and there’s 16 games left.

“We’re going to keep fighting with the players to make sure we keep instilling those beliefs in them and ensure that we are resilient, especially when we come away from home.

“We showed a lot of heart today, at times we showed a lot of quality.

“We played from a tactical plan and unfortunately we didn’t get result the performance deserved. However, we have to dust ourselves off.

“We will carry on believing in the squad, we will carry on drilling the team and making sure on Tuesday, when we are in next, that we keep improving the team.”

Torquay, whose win breathed new life into their hopes of beating the drop, had more of the game without creating much as Maidstone defended well.

Keeper Dan Barden didn’t have a meaningful save to make before denying Jarvis in the final 20 minutes.

But when Jarvis got another chance, after Maidstone lost the ball in midfield, the striker made no mistake.

Elokobi’s men rallied, their hopes boosted by six minutes of added time, but Torquay took the points to break a seven-match losing streak against the Stones.

“Yes, it was nervy at times but that’s normal because there’s so much at stake at this moment in time,” said Elokobi.

“We didn’t get it wrong tactically. In my opinion, we got it right as a management team.

“I thought each and every player worked their socks off for this football club and unfortunately it wasn’t to be.

“I’m not here to blame anyone or call any names. We are a team, we’re a squad, including the players that didn’t make it on the bench.

"We just said to the players, listen, you gave it your all because the last six minutes we were putting some good quality balls in there and we pinned them in their final third.

• Report: Torquay 1-0 Maidstone

“The only thing lacking was obviously a goal from the last six minutes, but that shows what we as a squad are capable of doing, what the players are capable of doing, individually, collectively, as a team.

“I’ve said to them if they keep showing that heart and believing in themselves like we all do, we’ll be fine. We’ll keep going, all the way.”