Ebbsfleet boss Dennis Kutrieb wants his new-look squad to bond during pre-season.

The Fleet have made eight summer signings to boost their already talented squad.

But having maintained fitness by playing a series of friendly matches once the National League South season was curtailed, Kutrieb’s main concern is not running his players into the ground.

“Pre-season is always tough and exhausting for the players, to get fit again after a short break,” said Kutrieb.

“We tried to stretch it out by playing those matches so it wasn’t a long break. The players are in good shape and prepared for five weeks to get as fit as possible and that’s what we’ve started to build since returning last week.

“We need to bring the boys closer together so everyone is on the same page.

“We need to get the new players to know the other boys and to adapt to the system that we want to play. We need to build a strong bond in the squad, it’s really important to have that.

“That’s the main point for us, of course fitness is important, but that’s the most important thing for the next few weeks.”

Kutrieb is not expecting to boost his numbers much further, having been keen to complete his summer business in good time so the players can get well versed during pre-season.

One position that remains up for grabs is a second goalkeeper with Jordan Holmes’ future yet to be decided. The Fleet keeper is currently with the Australian squad preparing for the Tokyo Olympics.

“We wanted to be ready as quickly as possible, to have all the boys here and on the same page,” explained Kutrieb.

“We won’t do many more things now unless something comes up that could strengthen us but it needs to make sense, not just to get people in but if we have a need in a specific position or a long-term injury happens. If we don’t have that kind of situation then we’re unlikely to do much.

“Jordan is the only one that we don’t know exactly yet if he stays in Australia or comes back to us after. We’ve got something in mind but we have time and don’t need to rush anything.”

It’s a year since Kutrieb joined the Fleet - and he’s feeling the benefit of a year in English football.

Greater knowledge, a clear understanding of the level of football and a greater insight of players means he’s been able to make decisions with more clarity.

“It’s a big difference,” confirmed the Fleet boss. “It’s always easier when you have more knowledge, when you know the opposition and other players and their methods.

“I knew what I wanted to add to the squad and where I wanted to improve. It’s a little bit easier when you have the spine of your squad too, and we kept 13 or 14 players from last year.

“So we needed to add a few more to that group rather than build a whole new squad again. I’ve been here for 11 or 12 months now so things like that are becoming a little bit easier.

“Last season the club started to rebuild and now every player coming here sees that we’ve built something and still have good players and everything is fine. They can see that we’re a settled club.

“Everyone is fine, the players are good and it’s a reliable club to play for again. That’s why we’ve had many more players that wanted to come to us so we’ve picked the right ones that we wanted.”

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