Dennis Kutrieb got his prediction spot-on when his Ebbsfleet side were handed an opening day National League trip to Rochdale.

The Fleet begin life back in non-league’s top flight on Saturday, August 5 at Spotland and their manager is relishing taking on a side who were relegated from League 2 at the end of last season.

“A few days before they came out I said I wouldn’t be surprised if we played against a relegated team straight away so this is what happened,” said Ebbsfleet boss Kutrieb.

“I like the opening game because we can see straight away where we are. A few months ago we were two leagues apart from each other so from that point of view it’s very interesting to see.

“They definitely needed to reshuffle and they will be ready for this game. They have their own ambitions so we need to be ready.

“It will be a great opening day and then straight after we’re at home to Solihull, who are always contenders for the play-offs so that will be interesting as well. I like the programme.”

See Ebbsfleet's 2023/24 fixture list here

The Fleet play 15 matches in the first two months of the season - nearly a third of their league programme.

It underlines how important it is that they’re ready for the start of the campaign.

“It’s good because after that period you’ll know exactly where you are,” reflected Kutrieb. “It can give you time to get a headstart or maybe give you headaches if it’s not going your way as you’ll know exactly what you need to improve to get better.

“If you’re ready and you play game by game then it’s the best thing in football. The only thing that matters is to try and get the boys ready in pre-season and that we have a good start in the season.

“It would be the first mistake to look too much at every single game. At the beginning of the season everyone wants to get promoted anyway so it’s not about we play weak teams or strong teams as you never know how it’s going to work out for each team.

“From that point of view, I’m not bothered about anything beyond August at this stage. We have a strong programme with many good opponents so I need to make sure we’re ready for those first few games.

“You can see there are many big teams, some with big histories, some with good qualities and some with big ambitions so we’ve got a bit of everything in this league.”