Daryl McMahon has challenged his Ebbsfleet players to show no weakness in the final three months of the National League South title race.

Fleet are without a win in their last three matches and have seen their lead at the top of the table cut from 10 points to six.

They go to struggling Basingstoke this Saturday looking to continue the superb away form which is keeping them clear of their promotion rivals.

All four of Ebbsfleet’s league defeats have come at Stonebridge Road – most recently against Margate last weekend – so could playing at home become a psychological barrier for McMahon’s players?

"Only if you’re weak," he said. "That’s the challenge for the players. I’ve told them ‘you’ve got 17 games to go to win the league’.

"I’m up for the challenge, the staff are up for the challenge and I’ve got no doubt the players will be as well.

"It is a challenge. We were never going to walk the league, no-one does, and I’m looking forward to the next 17 games.

"We’re in a great position. At the start of the season, I said that as long as we were in and around it – we didn’t have to be top – that in the second half of the season, we could kick on and I still believe that."

Fleet’s next three games are all away from home, which may suit them based on results so far this season.

But McMahon said: "I honestly don’t think about it like that, I really don’t.

"Yes, we’re getting better results away from home, but I want to get the home form right. That’s a challenge for me and the group.

"The last two games have been very frustrating for me and the players when you look at the amount of control we have.

"To come away with one point from the last two home games is very frustrating."