Ebbsfleet's players put their manager through the ringer again on Tuesday night.

Three days after conceding a stoppage-time equaliser at Oxford City, the National League South leaders missed several good chances to bury struggling St Albans City.

But on this occasion, one goal proved enough for Daryl McMahon's side to claim the points.

McMahon said: "I think the boys are trying to give me a heart attack.

"We had 20 shots and only scored one so we’ve got to do better in front of goal but we’re delighted to get the three points. It was a very assured performance across the board.

"They had one shot on target in the first half which was a simple save for Brandon and I thought we dealt with their attack really well.

"I thought we dominated the game, to be honest, and should have won by more."

Ebbsfleet's winning goal was scored by Aaron McLean, who now has five in four games.

The striker benefitted from a goalkeeping error by Joe Welch, who allowed McLean's shot from 20 yards to bounce in front of him on its way into the bottom corner.

"If you don’t shoot you don’t score - and he shoots a lot," McMahon said. "Any time he sees the goal, he shoots, which I think is a good thing for a striker.

"Aaron’s done well and not just that, his performances are good as well.

"He leads the line, he runs down the side of people, he winds people up, he’s annoying to play against, he’s a pest and him and Danny Kedwell work so hard. They set the tone for everyone and I thought both of them were excellent."

The timing of McLean's goal, just a minute before half-time, was pivotal.

McMahon said: "It was no more than we deserved and we should have added to it in the second half.

"We had a couple of fantastic opportunities in the second half and I’d expect the calibre of players we’ve got to take them.

"But I’m just delighted to get the win and three points on the board."

McMahon was less than delighted, however, with the performance of referee Carl Fitch.

He said: "I thought he was very similar to Saturday. He lost control of the game to be fair and there were too many yellow cards. There was one particularly bad tackle on Stuart Lewis.

"I don’t like talking about referees. I can’t do anything about the referee, he has to look after himself and I look after my team but it would be nice if the standard was a little bit higher.

"We’ve had some terrific referees who have made good decisions and been brave but in the last couple of games we’ve probably had a couple that weren’t so brave."