Ebbsfleet United manager Dennis Kutrieb reacts to 1-0 defeat at Cheshunt in National League South

Ebbsfleet manager Dennis Kutrieb admitted the challenge provided by Cheshunt in National League South was exactly what he expected.

The Fleet were on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline after an early penalty for the home side, who then used every trick in the book to frustrate the Fleet and hold on to what they had. It worked and Kutrieb admitted his team need to find more in the future.

“You could see it was a tough game for us,” said the Fleet boss. “We tried hard again. Honestly, I told the boys before the game we had to be careful because this is exactly what can happen.

“I was expecting this kind of game, this nasty and so many battles, sitting on the floor waiting for treatment and the referee not taking any action and that’s exactly what we tried to prepare the boys for. Obviously, it was not good enough.

“We had a few chances but didn’t take them. It’s not like we bombarded them and had lots of chances but (there was still) enough to put one in the back of the net.

“We need to find ways how to dig in a bit deeper to get results out of these games.”

It’s successive league defeats for Ebbsfleet, who have now lost five of their last seven games in all competitions.

Kutrieb believes his squad will stick together and can bounce back quickly.

“Every defeat is concerning as you can always do better,” added the Fleet boss.

“But you can see there are a few clear and obvious situations why this is happening for me at the moment and what exactly goes against us.

“We need to stick together as a group and learn from these defeats, learn from how the opponent celebrates afterwards, all these small little things where you need to be aware as a player. We need to step up and make sure we are ready.

“A few players will be back for