Making the play-offs this season would be a bonus for Ebbsfleet chairman Dr Abdulla Al-Humaidi.

Steady progress over time has always been the owner’s mantra, although he’d love to see Fleet give themselves a shot at back-to-back promotions.

They’ve got 16 games left to break into the National League top seven.

“The expectation is that we consolidate our position,” said Dr Al-Humaidi. “A play-off spot would be nice and this is obviously a goal.

“But it’s tight and just a few points separate several teams, so we’ll see what happens. I’m pretty sure, with a good run, we might end up in a play-off position, which would be fantastic for our first season under the new ownership in the National League.”

Manager Daryl McMahon and vice-chairman Dean Pooley already have one eye on next season and Kuwait-based Dr Al-Humaidi does too.

He said: “Having a stable club, not just financially but with players, is critical. We’ve done so much work in terms of achieving a financially viable club with building the new stand and with that comes other challenges in terms of personnel.

“I agree with Dean and Daryl in terms of having a longer-term view for staff and players and building a very long-term plan.

“If you see successful teams throughout the last 10-20 years, there’s always a core of players who played together for many years. That is always the ingredient of success in my view.

“It’s not bringing in players here and there, it’s about having a core number of players who play together for a number of years.”