Ebbsfleet United manager Dennis Kutrieb on signing Billy Clifford from Havant & Waterlooville and reaction to the 4-1 home win over Concord Rangers

Ebbsfleet boss Dennis Kutrieb believes new signing Billy Clifford is the best midfielder in National League South - apart from those already in his squad.

The Fleet snapped up Clifford following his release from fellow promotion contenders Havant, the classy 30-year-old making his debut in Saturday’s 4-1 home win over Concord.

“If he’s available and a free agent then we needed to grab him,” stated Kutrieb. “Apart from my team, he’s the best midfielder in the league so if I can get the best midfielder in our league, against someone who is very close to us in the table on top of it. I don’t know if you can make a story out of it but it maybe a great story for us.

“I don’t say it for no reason that he’s the best midfielder in the league, apart from my team, so it’s the perfect fit.”

On Clifford’s debut, Kutrieb added: “Outstanding. He could have had a penalty for me and then he hit the crossbar. We will get him on the scoresheet as he has not scored enough goals at Havant but that will take time.

“You can see he’s not used to being in the box and not used to being with us. He wants to be on the ball and he makes something happen.

“For us he is a perfect fit. I said we’d do something if it makes sense and this definitely makes sense. Without being stretched as a club this was a perfect deal for him and for us.”

There is the potential for Clifford to be involved against his former club next week as Havant visit Stonebridge Road in a key promotion clash.

But Kutrieb is yet to make a decision on whether to include his only new signing since the season started.

He said: “It would be massive pressure for him as he was with them for two and a half years so I don’t need to put a player under massive pressure but we’ll see how the