Ebbsfleet manager Steve Brown expects an improvement from his team when they entertain Havant & Waterlooville this Saturday.

Fleet looked rusty at times in their Vanarama Conference South opener against Concord Rangers on Tuesday night. But, crucially, they won the game 2-0 thanks to goals from Daryl McMahon and Charlie Sheringham.

Brown, who had to wait until October for his first home league win last season, already feels the pressure has lifted this time around – but he wants his players to raise their game against the Hawks.

He said: "I know the performances will come because I’ll get to work with the boys on the training ground and they’ll get to understand me and what I expect.

"I’m still bedding in three, four or five new players here so I’m delighted because the clean sheet and three points were paramount. It leads us into Saturday with less pressure than if we’d lost the game.

"It’s huge – whoever we were playing on Saturday. It’s really nice to get off the mark.

"We didn’t get off the mark for four or five games last year, down at Dorchester, and let me tell you, it’s not nice being in a position where you’re just rolling out draws and losses. The pressure mounts massively.

"Havant will know they’re going to have a tough game on Saturday. We also are very respectful of them and we know we didn’t do great against them last year.

"Certain improvements will be made but in regards to performance over result, you take the result every day of the week at this stage of the season. You just want points on the board as quick as you can."

Full story in the Gravesend Messenger.