Ebbsfleet United chairman Dr Abdulla Al-Humaidi expects automatic promotion this season after giving manager Steve Brown money to spend in the summer.

The club’s Kuwaiti owner was at the PHB Stadium on Saturday to see the Fleet beat St Albans 4-1 in Vanarama Conference South.

Dr Al-Humaidi, who watched summer signing Charlie Sheringham score twice in that game, is pleased with the job Brown is doing.

But with Ebbsfleet having brought in the likes of Sheringham, Matty Godden and Kenny Clark during the close-season, as well as securing Dean Rance and Anthony Cook on two-year deals, Dr Al-Humaidi wants to see a prompt return on his investment.

He said: "I expect promotion. I know sometimes players are nervous and the management team are nervous but this is our goal and I don’t see any reason why I or the board should hide it.

"Everyone knows that we want promotion this year. We want to finish first. We want automatic promotion and this is what we’re aiming for.

"We had a sit-down with Steve before the play-off match last season. We told him: 'Regardless of the outcome of this match, we want the team to improve. If we win and play in the Conference Premier, we want to challenge and if we don’t win, we want automatic promotion'."

Brown knows exactly what’s expected of him this season but he insists he doesn’t feel burdened when the club’s benefactor is sat just a few yards behind the dugout.

He said: "Dr Abdulla is brilliant at relieving pressure. He doesn’t come over here and make any judgments. Of course we wanted to put on a performance (on Saturday), of course we wanted to win – and we did that. But if we’d drawn 0-0 or lost 1-0, he would have been the same way.

"He’s been extremely generous and he’s level-headed. As an owner, he must look out there and, with the investment he’s put in, think 'we’ve got a very good chance this year' - but that pressure never really finds its way to me."

Read the full story in the Gravesend Messenger.