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Ebbsfleet United manager Dennis Kutrieb reacts to 6-0 National League South derby win over Welling United

Ebbsfleet boss Dennis Kutrieb knows his team will have tougher tests ahead following an impressive thrashing of Welling on Saturday.

The Fleet raced into a five-goal first-half lead on their way to a comprehensive 6-0 success.

Welling find their route forward blocked by Ebbsfleet on Saturday. Picture: Dave Budden (53212056)
Welling find their route forward blocked by Ebbsfleet on Saturday. Picture: Dave Budden (53212056)

The opening 45 minutes was as good as Ebbsfleet have played this season, although Kutrieb held back from stating it was their best performance – aware that Welling had a couple of decent openings that they failed to take advantage of.

It will serve as a warning for his side in the weeks ahead.

“We’ve seen good performances, Tonbridge was outstanding for me as well,” admitted Kutrieb.

“When you score five goals, you have to say it was one of the best performances but I’m not sure.

“They had a few spells in the first half when they passed the ball and we didn’t press in the right way. They got into dangerous areas where we need to make it better in the next game.

“Welling is not our level at the moment, I’m happy about it and impressed that we showed that. But they’re not our level at the moment, Tuesday is a different game (against Maidstone), along with Oxford and Dulwich (in the weeks ahead) - they are different levels and we need to make sure we’re prepared for it.

“The first 45 minutes were very impressive (but) we can’t get carried away by the result.

“We wanted to be on the front foot in the first 10 minutes. They sit a little bit deep, that’s what we expected, so we wanted to attack them straight away.

“There’s always lots to do, you can be better and better. There’s no limit for me, they know what they do right and do wrong. But I don’t want to be the crazy German who stands here after a 6-0 win and says I’m not happy.”

Welling’s set-up was similar to Tonbridge, and Ebbsfleet – who scored four first-half goals against the Angels on the opening day of the campaign – again flexed their attacking muscles to dismantle Peter Taylor’s Welling side.

Kutrieb added: “The approach from the opponent was similar to Tonbridge and if opponents have this approach then for us it’s possible to damage them.

“We did it really well in the first half. It’s not always good if you score a very early goal as you never know if the boys are still on the front foot or in a lean back position but it was exactly what I wanted to see – ‘go again, go again and don’t get lazy or complacent’. That’s what they did impressively.

Ebbsfleet manager Dennis Kutrieb was a happy man after their 6-0 win over Welling. Picture: Kejth Gillard
Ebbsfleet manager Dennis Kutrieb was a happy man after their 6-0 win over Welling. Picture: Kejth Gillard

“We scored some nice goals and played well so I’m very happy. You could see at Hungerford and Eastbourne we went one-up very early and didn’t respond right to it but against Welling we did.”

It’s now nine wins out of 10 for Ebbsfleet in all competitions, that only defeat coming in the FA Cup at League 2 Leyton Orient.

Kutrieb made two changes for Welling with Jack Paxman suspended and Sefa Kahraman suffering from illness as he didn’t want to take the visitors lightly.

“I couldn’t tell you how many wins we have because, to be honest, we need to go for the next one,” added the Fleet boss.

“It’s gone and I know it’s easy to say when you have a win and feel the confidence but as a manager you need to make sure everyone is on the same page, it doesn’t matter who’s playing you need to do things the right way and if they do then they get minutes.

“We didn’t rotate as much as normal, normally I rotate four or five players. We didn’t take them lightly as they’ve had some great results since Peter Taylor’s (gone) there.”

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