Ebbsfleet United midfielder Finlay Barnes on adding more goals to his game

Ebbsfleet midfielder Finlay Barnes reckons arriving in the penalty area is key to his goalscoring success.

Barnes’ double in Monday’s draw at Chelmsford took his tally for the season to seven - he netted just four goals last campaign.

The 25-year-old is enjoying more game time and is taking advantage with a series of impressive displays.

His runs behind the defensive line were a feature of both his goals at Farnborough and he was in the right place at the right time to grab another brace in Essex.

“I do try and get in the box as much as I can,” said Barnes. “Obviously, it's not going to come to you every time.

“The second goal at Chelmsford was a really good move and they’re the sort of things we work on.

“When it comes off in a game, it's brilliant. I think Ben Chapman’s looked up and see me coming, it’s a great ball back and I was just excited to try and get on the end of it.

“I’m trying to get as many goals as I can, and help the team with that. I feel confident when I get in those positions that I can score and that's definitely something I want to add to my game more and continue to do, hopefully.”

The Chelmsford match was the final outstanding game postponed in the opening weeks of the season amid the Fleet’s suspension by the National League.

They’ve been playing midweek football almost non-stop since the start of September. It might be a gruelling schedule but Barnes has enjoyed the games.

“I've enjoyed it, personally,” he stated.

“I love playing games, that's something that all footballers want to do, they want to play games.

“It's obviously been difficult and you can see now we've got a few injuries and suspensions. Personally, I've enjoyed it and I think as a team, everyone has, and we've done quite well