Former Charlton defender Chris Solly’s Ebbsfleet United debut has been delayed.

The 29-year-old joined the Fleet last month but has not featured in a matchday squad.

Fleet boss Dennis Kutrieb explained that Solly has been absent from training after suffering with a minor illness.

Kutrieb said: “He is with us but he needs some more training sessions as he has been suffering with an illness, which is like a migraine. We will see him shortly.

“We don’t know (when) at the moment and I don’t have him in mind because I always work with the boys that are with us.

“It’s not injury, it’s illness but only a small illness so when he is back we will see if he is ready to play for Ebbsfleet United.”

Fleet’s big squad will be put to good use in the coming weeks after Jake Goodman and skipper Lee Martin both came off early in each half during Saturday’s goalless derby draw at Dartford.

That led Ben Chapman to drop back into an unfamiliar centre-back role, but the former Gillingham midfielder performed admirably in defence.

Indeed, Kutrieb was full of praise for his midfield trio of Chapman, Jack Paxman and Josh Payne against the Darts.

“Ben Chapman is reliable, he does his job, the same as Paxman,” said Kutrieb. “They were outstanding along with Josh Payne in the centre of midfield, who played good passes, defended very well and showed big leadership. They did a good job and I was happy with the three of them.

“Chapman is good enough, he can play (in defence) because he is a fighter. He tried hard to get the ball back and can be a little bit nasty which you need for a centre-back.

“It was unlucky that we had to substitute Jake Goodman off because I thought he would be dangerous for us at set-pieces but Chapman did really well.”

Fleet are back on the road on Tuesday night when they visit Dorking Wanderers in National League South.

Despite not scoring a league goal for 368 minutes, Ebbsfleet will go with renewed vigour following their much-improved display on Saturday.

“We will go there with confidence,” said Kutrieb. “They showed that they could beat Dartford but we needed a little bit more luck there.

“Dorking try to play football and hurt the opponents so we have to prepare the team.

“I’m looking forward to it because it’s a great game, I like Dorking, I like the way they play and their management team.”

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