Ebbsfleet United manager Dennis Kutrieb says they need to make it harder for teams to score against them

Ebbsfleet boss Dennis Kutrieb is putting more emphasis on being hard to beat.

The Fleet shipped another four goals in last weekend’s 4-2 defeat at Havant - the fourth time since the start of December they have conceded at least four away from home.

It’s a record that needs improving - and fast - if they are to revive their flagging promotion ambitions after a run of five defeats in seven National League South games.

“We need to stop conceding goals and that’s my aim,” said Kutrieb. “We will score goals all day long but we need to put more focus on our defensive work.

“When you watch back the goals it’s not a clear and obvious thing that you can solve just by training. It’s more about focus, being prepared and not making it easy for the opponent.

“I wish we would score an easy goal but it’s always hard work for us to score, then we give away (soft goals). Of course, it’s a concern.

“We want to win games and we need to make it hard for teams to score against us, it’s far too easy.

“It’s not a stupid mistake, like playing out from the back. There can be 100 different issues like focus or concentration. In the games there appears to be no danger, then we make a mistake and straight away there is a goal.”

Kutrieb stressed that his squad are good enough. He also refused to put all the blame at his back three, which has changed regularly in recent weeks with suspensions for Sefa Kahraman and injuries to the likes of Joe Martin, Sido Jombati and Alex Finney all influencing team selection.

Jombati came in for his first appearance since January 22 at Havant and was involved in a mix-up for the second goal alongside Chris Solly, who was also at fault the previous week against Slough.

“It’s a mindset, not an issue of quality,”