Ebbsfleet United goalkeeper David Gregory believes they can avoid relegation from the National League.

The Fleet are five points away from climbing out of the bottom four but, having played a key role in Saturday’s win over fellow strugglers Chorley, Gregory insisted that they can complete a great escape.

“It’s in our hands,” said Gregory, who is on loan from Boreham Wood for the rest of the season. “It’s a big task, I believe it, now it’s about getting it done and achieving it.

“I came here to play and to keep us up. That’s why I’m here.

“It’s been a strange season for me personally (but) I’m here to do the best I can to keep us up in this league.

“It’s about gaining focus on the next task in hand (at Chesterfield on Saturday).

“We have to get the three points and we’ll channel all our focus on that.

“It’s always good to keep clean sheets, in order for us to keep building on results we need to keep as many attempts out as possible. That has to be the foundation.”

Gregory was the hero for Ebbsfleet against Chorley – saving an 89th-minute penalty and then producing an even better stop to keep out Matty Challoner’s stoppage-time effort.

“It was an emotional rollercoaster towards the end,” he noted. “They threw the kitchen sink at us and the conditions were lively to put it lightly. I’m just glad to get the three points, that was the key aim.

“Pressure doesn’t exist, it’s only something you put on yourself.

“You’ve got to try and deal with the situation as it comes. I tried my hardest, picked a way (to dive) and thankfully it was the right way.

“Those are quite heavy words (about the end of Ebbsfleet’s chances) but it turns out that if it had gone in, it could be the end of our season in terms of points needed.

“Trust me, it was a big relief for me as well having conceded the penalty, it was just about trying to do your best. I’m just trying to do my job, you can only keep out what you can keep out and you’ve just got to try and throw yourself in front of everything you can.”

As for the award of the spot-kick, Gregory admitted he made contact but felt the foul was outside the penalty area.

“I did make contact with him; it was just outside the box in my opinion.

“I initially went to claim it inside the box but for some reason (the ball) didn’t make it. I initially thought it was outside the box but the referee had a different view.

“It was never going to change so I had to regain my focus and try to save the penalty.”

• Fleet pay tax bill
• Watson: We won ugly!
• Report: Ebbsfleet 1-0 Chorley

Read more: All the latest sports news in Kent