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Ebbsfleet United add trialist Jean-Yves Niate to their squad

There was a new face in Ebbsfleet's defence on Tuesday night.

Big centre-half Jean-Yves Niate played the full 90 minutes as Fleet lost 1-0 at home to Bromley in the second round of the Kent Senior Cup.

He looked solid alongside 16-year-old Harvie Gardiner and could feature for Ebbsfleet in the National League over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Ebbsfleet manager Daryl McMahon Picture: Andy Payton
Ebbsfleet manager Daryl McMahon Picture: Andy Payton

Fleet boss Daryl McMahon said: "He was at Solihull Moors for the first half of the season and then he went to Oxford City.

"He’s big, powerful, aggressive and decent on the ball but probably needs to get a bit fitter. He’s been back in France for a little while but he seems a decent player.

"We had him in on Monday for training, he's played tonight and we’ll see him again Thursday."

McMahon changed his entire starting XI for the cup tie and of the team he did put out, only Sean Shields and Danny Mills have played any league football this season.

Dean Rance (knee) was on the bench but didn't come on, while Kenny Clark and Jack Connors both have tight hamstrings.

McMahon said: "Dean should train Thursday but he’s been out for a month so he’s not going to be match fit. It’s a pity this game wasn’t next week because he could have probably played in it but it is what it is.

"Kenny did some more stuff today but it’s a day-to-day thing with Ken to see how he reacts.

"We’re pushing him but we can’t push him too much. We’re pushing him as much as we can until he’s sore and then we’ve got to ease off and then we see how he reacts the next day to that.

"He did some work today and we’ll see what he’s like tomorrow and go again Thursday.

"JC hasn’t pulled his hamstring. It’s a tightness in his hamstring. He’s had it twice now, he had it against Wimbledon when he came off in the last game of pre-season.

"Similar to Kenny Clark, it’s August and we’re not in a rush to make him break down. I’d rather he comes off (as he did at Maidenhead on Saturday) and we save him and if we’ve got to play with 10 men for five minutes, I’d rather do that than lose him for six weeks."

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