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Interaction with his defenders ensures goalkeeper Mark Cousins stays alert despite Ebbsfleet United's early-season dominance

Mark Cousins may not be the busiest of goalkeepers at the moment - but he still feels involved during Ebbsfleet’s games.

Cousins, a summer arrival from Bromley, has started eight of their nine matches this season and has only conceded six goals.

Ebbsfleet United goalkeeper Mark Cousins controls the ball in their FA Cup win over Dover. Picture: Ed Miller/EUFC
Ebbsfleet United goalkeeper Mark Cousins controls the ball in their FA Cup win over Dover. Picture: Ed Miller/EUFC

But with the style of play used by the Fleet, who have won all nine games this term, the 35-year-old feels part of the action - even if he doesn’t have lots of saves to make.

He explained: “Being a goalie, you always do have to focus constantly for 90 minutes - whether you are involved or not. But it’s, obviously, a lot easier when you are dealing with crosses and shots.

“You don’t have to concentrate as much because you are just in the game all the time. When the balls at the other end, I stay switched on by talking to my defenders.

“The way the team plays, they involve me quite a bit so you do feel like you have to be moving around, creating options so the defenders can pass to you.

“It’s not too hard [to stay concentrated]. With the way the team plays, I always feel involved.”

Cousins admits some of the defenders in front of him help to do the hard work for him, too, with the keeper only having a couple of second-half saves to make in their FA Cup win on Saturday over Dover.

He said: “They read the game so well and they’re in the right positions to stop through-balls or any kinds of passes.

“It’s great to have that experience in front of you.”

Early National League South frontrunners Fleet return to league action with two games in four days. They visit Hungerford this Saturday before a trip to Oxford City.

But Cousins isn’t overly concerned about two relatively long journeys in quick succession, saying: “It’s a few hours on the coach, it’s not like going to Barrow and Gateshead away. We’re all used to travelling.

“The way we prepare for these [midweek] games, we’ll do cool-downs on the Sunday and training will be light on the Sunday ahead of the Oxford game. The manager [Dennis Kutrieb] knows how to prepare us and we will always be prepared.”

Ebbsfleet come into those games after a 2-0 home win over Whites, which came courtesy of a goal in either half from top scorer Dominic Poleon and defender Sido Jombati.

“It’s fantastic, a solid result with two goals and a clean sheet. We’re into the next round,” Cousins reflected.

“In cup competitions, it’s all about winning but the way we won was convincing and it was a good performance by everyone.”

Andy Hessenthaler’s Whites had shown strong resilience in the first half before Poleon broke the deadlock at Stonebridge Road against one of his old clubs in the 40th minute.

Cousins knows some teams will deploy similar tactics this season against in-form Ebbsfleet but he backs their attacking players to find a way through.

“Some teams will maybe have different tactics for us but we’ll just have to find a way,” he said.

“With the amount of attacking players we have got at our disposal, one of them will always find a way through. That’s a great confidence-booster for everyone to have.

“If it’s not happening for someone, it’ll happen for someone else. With the attacking players we have, that’s really exciting.”

While Cousins may not have had much to do against Dover, particularly in the first half, the all-pink kit he was sporting certainly caught the eye.

He said: “I have worn pink a couple of times in my career but I don’t mind it. It’s a nice colour, real men wear pink!”

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