Manager Dennis Kutrieb insists Omari Sterling-James has only just got started in an Ebbsfleet shirt.

Sterling-James enjoyed his best Fleet performance to date in Saturday’s FA Cup First Round win over FC Halifax at Stonebridge Road.

The good news for Fleet fans is that Sterling-James is already making a key contribution, and Kutrieb feels he can get even better.

“It was his best performance for us but still nowhere near where he can be,” stated the Fleet boss. “I see him training daily and he is far too good.

“He was unlucky not to score on Saturday, which would definitely give him a lift. It’s a similar situation to where Rakish Bingham was, where I would be happy for him to score now because he is getting frustrated and I don’t want to see it.

“He has played good games and even if he isn’t on his best performance, he is still a good player for us.

"Don’t get the wrong message about him being nowhere near where he could be, he is still good enough to play for us and good enough to make an impact but I think he can better.”

Sterling-James caught the eye during Kidderminster’s FA Cup journey to the Fourth Round last season.

But he had already been spotted by Kutrieb, who liked what he saw.

“It was nothing to do with their FA Cup run,” said Kutrieb. “I just saw him and my gut feeling was he could fit into our team because he’s a very good footballer.

“The only things I was unsure of was the distance and if he’d played at his best. When I saw him, I thought when he plays for me he will be better - and he’s already good.

“There’s still a long way to go but my aim is to make him better and we’re working on that.

“That’s my approach because that’s part of my job, to make players better. It’s not just maintaining everyone and throwing a ball in the air and say here we go.

“I want to improve players, and if they work together then they do that automatically because everyone knows on the pitch what to do.

“I can already see that Omari has been with us for three months and is getting there. He still has a lot of room to improve because of his quality but he’s going in the right direction and I’m very positive.”