by Steve Tervet

Home comforts have been in short supply for Ebbsfleet this season and that trend urgently needs to change when fellow strugglers Hyde visit Stonebridge Road on Saturday.

With both sides scrambling to get away from the foot of Blue Square Bet Premier, the stakes are high.

The Fleet have won only one league game in front of their home crowd this season, but a series of solid displays on the road has instilled a new confidence into Liam Daish’s squad.

Wins at Woking and Tamworth preceded last weekend’s FA Cup exit at Carlisle and the Fleet manager has urged his players to show belief in a game which could prove pivotal in their bid to avoid relegation.

"It’ll be a good game against Hyde," said Daish, pictured.

"We’ll approach it with the same attitude as we did on Saturday and as we have in the last four or five games. We need to keep picking up points and keep our performances at the same standard.

"The players showed (at Carlisle) they can compete on a good level but we need a little bit more quality around the 18-yard box. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves, we’ve got to take the positives out of Saturday."

Having not played at Stonebridge Road for four weeks, Ebbsfleet go into Saturday’s game without midfielder Ram Marwa, who is still nursing a knee injury.