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Ebbsfleet United boss Jamie Day admits confidence is an issue for his players after three straight home league losses

Ebbsfleet lost to Basingstoke three times last season Picture: Andy Payton
Ebbsfleet lost to Basingstoke three times last season Picture: Andy Payton

Ebbsfleet manager Jamie Day believes there is a fear factor at the PHB Stadium.

Day has lost his first two home games in charge of the Fleet, against Weston-super-Mare and Basingstoke. Those defeats followed a 3-0 reverse at the hands of Gosport on November 25, which turned out to be Steve Brown's final game in charge before he was sacked.

Speaking after the 5-1 loss to Basingstoke on Sunday, Day said: "I’m surprised by the way we collapsed. I’m surprised that when we go a goal down, how quickly our mentality changes.

"That’s disappointing because people go into their shells and don’t want to get on the ball.

"In the second half, people gave up and that’s not what I want my teams to be like. If we get beat, we go down fighting and there was no fight on Sunday."

Asked if there is a fear factor for his players in home games, Day said: "I think there possibly is. As soon as we go a goal down, the boys hit a mental block and struggle to get themselves back into games. Then they end up getting beat and chasing games.

"Something’s not right here. If we don’t take the lead, we then struggle to get ourselves back into the game and that’s got to change.

"You don’t always go into games taking the lead and winning. Sometimes you have to claw things back, like we did at Welling. We need to be able to repeat that in home games.

"We’ll have to look into it because it is an issue at the minute.

"You look at the home form and I’ve lost two at home in the first two games. It’s an issue and I need to put my finger on how we get round it and start getting the boys confident at home, whether they’re winning, losing or drawing.

"We need to turn those draws into wins and the defeats into draws. That’s something we’re going to have to work on pretty quickly."

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