Ebbsfleet boss Dennis Kutrieb knows the National League South title race will become much clearer in the next month.

The Fleet are in pole position after extending their lead to eight points having defeated third-placed Havant 2-0 at Stonebridge Road last weekend.

But they start a run of nine matches in four weeks when they travel to Bath this Saturday.

Once that busy schedule is over, the Fleet will know exactly what more they need to do to become champions.

“In four weeks we have nine games to play so now we have to be up for it,” stated Kutrieb.

“The whole squad has to be up for it, we can’t play these nine games with the same XI. Now is the time where we need everyone to be ready.

“Havant was important to tick off because they are up there in the table, but now it’s a big time. In four weeks, we would have played nine games more and have just eight games left.

“If we can keep this run going, keep getting points on the board, then we might be in a good situation.

“But I would delay any analysis for another four weeks once we’ve played this block of games. We’ll know exactly where we are then.

“If we can keep this gap, it would be amazing but it’s on us - no-one else. It’s a perfect situation as you don’t want to rely on other teams, you just want to rely on us.

“I’m very confident with our squad so I’d rather rely on us than others.”

Six of the nine matches are away, with Ebbsfleet following up the weekend game at Bath with a Tuesday night trip to Chippenham.

They also travel to St Albans, Chelmsford, Farnborough and Tonbridge before mid-March.

“That’s fine,” responded Kutrieb “You have to play the games where they are. We played an outstanding away game last time at Dulwich.

“Bath is a long trip, then we play again a few days later at Chippenham, so it’s a tough time but we’ve got a big squad and everyone is ready to go. The subs who came on last weekend were great and that’s what we need at the moment.

“After Bath we’ll have two or three more players back from little injuries and that gives me more options.”

Victory at home to Havant last weekend saw Kutrieb’s men complete the double over the Hawks.

It means Havant trail Ebbsfleet by 13 points, and the Fleet boss couldn’t help but wonder how much stronger their position would be had they managed to prevent rivals Dartford winning both matches over the festive period.

With six league wins in a row, Ebbsfleet have turned their games in hand into points on the board and they’d need to suffer another big wobble to open the door on their fellow promotion hopefuls.

“Imagine if we’d won the games against Dartford how far away they would be now,” reflected Kutrieb.

“It was disappointing that we didn’t take a point off them but that’s how football sometimes works.

“We knew at the time that we had three games in hand and we didn’t have to worry too much about other teams because we know that no one in this league will win every other game, not Dartford, not Havant, not Worthing.

“We just need to make sure we stay focused, don’t get distracted, and get the next game ticked off.”

Ebbsfleet beat Dartford 2-1 in the Second Round of the Kent Senior Cup on Tuesday night.

Goals from Shaq Coulthirst and Darren McQueen set up a Quarter-Final at home to Welling.