Ebbsfleet United skipper Chris Solly says National League win over Wealdstone can be blueprint for a successful fight against relegation

Ebbsfleet captain Chris Solly is hoping last weekend’s win against Wealdstone can act as the springboard for survival.

The Fleet remain in the National League drop zone but anyone in the bottom half of the table could yet be dragged into the relegation dogfight.

It was a first clean sheet since August as Solly marked his return to the side with an excellent display at the heart of the Ebbsfleet defence.

“For me, being a defender, clean sheets are something we pride ourselves on,” said Solly.

“I’ve said it a million times, the quality we have in this squad going forward, we’ll always score goals. So, you go into the game knowing if we keep a clean sheet the likelihood is we’re going to win most weeks.

“I don’t think there’s been many games since I’ve been here where we haven’t scored. We didn’t create a million chances against Wealdstone but we’ve managed to score two goals.

“Keep a clean sheet and you’ve always got a good chance of winning the game, worst case you come away with a 0-0 but every point we come away with at the minute is a good point.

“The style of football we play, we’re a forward-thinking, attacking team, so we will always be slightly open in games at times.

“Defensively we haven’t been good enough as a team this season and we’ve conceded far too many goals, but it was a step in the right direction and hopefully we can continue from there.”

It was a welcome return to action for the influential Solly, who was last seen during the home defeat to Oxford City in November.

Injury kept him sidelined since then but he was back at the weekend to register his 100th appearance for Ebbsfleet.

“It was literally the last five or 10 minutes of the Oxford game when I went in for a tackle and opened my ankle up,” said