Ebbsfleet boss Dennis Kutrieb has welcomed a break in the schedule so he can get to work on the training ground.

Only bottom side AFC Fylde have conceded more goals in the opening 15 games of the National League season than the Fleet.

They sit 16th with 16 points from 15 games having completed around a third of their league programme in the first two months.

The games have come thick and fast - along with injuries - in recent weeks so the lack of midweek action until they visit Southend on October 24 gives Kutrieb a chance to get some work done on the training ground.

“It’s massive to have two weeks on the training ground without a midweek game,” he stated.

“It’s really important for me as a manager to address things in general, usually if you’re winning games it’s perfect to get three days between matches, but if you’re in a tough spell then you like to have a bit more time to prepare.

“Sometimes if you’re an unlucky loser and you go again then it’s a different story but in general if you lose and have more time, you can fix things better.

“Honestly, in the last three weeks, we couldn’t fix anything on the training pitch. It’s been about recovery and then one day before the game we can’t really work with the boys too much.

“You can walk through a few things but we run over 100k per game altogether so we can’t ask them to do much on a Friday - they wouldn’t be able to do it.

“It’s unfortunate because when you don’t have a good time you want to be on the training pitch to solve the problems and get better.”

The Fleet boss did see positive signs in the 2-0 home defeat to FC Halifax.

Having seen his side caught out on the transition too many times for his liking at Eastleigh, the Fleet had a better structure about them despite still being left empty-handed.

“I have to say that the transitional periods were much better than in the last couple of weeks,” reflected Kutrieb.

“We’d already fixed a few things on Saturday that we didn’t do good enough on Tuesday when we conceded two goals from transition.

“Yes, we conceded another from a transition but for me that was nearly an own goal as we tried to kick it clear and it went against someone.

“That was much better but these things are not really helping to win games at the moment.

“In the bigger picture they will help but when we have more time on the training ground, it can just get better and better.”