Ebbsfleet manager Dennis Kutrieb has revealed he’s been a long-time admirer of new signing Shaquile Coulthirst.

The 27-year-old joined from Billericay on Tuesday and went straight into the starting line-up for Fleet’s emphatic 5-0 win over St Albans at Stonebridge Road.

He’s a player that Kutrieb has been aware of since the Fleet boss arrived in the country in the summer of 2020.

“We looked at him a long time ago,” said Kutrieb. “He was one of the first names that I had on the table when I arrived here 18 months ago.

“We were always following him and what he is doing. I like him as a player, I think he’s a good striker as he has proved already in other leagues. He needs to settle in with us and build up some fitness as well and then I think we have a very good striker with us.”

Coulthirst’s arrival may have been prompted by the injury to Rakish Bingham, who is not expected to return to action until early March.

But he’s got plenty of pedigree having started at Tottenham while Peterborough paid money for him and he’s also enjoyed success at Barnet.

Kutrieb added: “He is experienced, he’s a very good character - that’s what I said all the time when I want to add to the squad, he needs to be a good character.

“He’s not a big talker, he’s just working hard. It’s a tough time for him because when you come from part-time to full-time, it takes a little bit. That’s why we gave him minutes straight away so we can build up his fitness because we’ll definitely need him in the next weeks.

“I’m happy that we have another striker on board now and he will definitely bring more (to) us. If he gets a chance, he will score. He never really had a big chance (on Tuesday) but I’m positive and optimistic that he will score goals for us.”

Dominic Poleon took his tally for the season to 12 with a late effort against St Albans, his first goal in five games.

Poleon reacted quickest to nod home from close range after Will Wood’s free-kick came back off the crossbar.

“I’m very happy for him, maybe that’s exactly what he needed, a scrappy goal to be back on the scoresheet,” reflected Kutrieb.

“That’s sometimes what you need as a striker as he had a good chance before, that normally he scores from there all day long.

“Sometimes it’s not working in your favour and as a striker you just need to believe and work hard, don’t start to have doubts or feel sorry for yourself.

“That’s what he’s doing at the moment, he had three great chances at Dartford, he had two against St Albans and at least he’s scored one. I’m happy for him but I know he will score more goals for us, I’m not doubting it.”

Kutrieb made six changes from the Dartford defeat and it went to plan against St Albans. He’s tinkered with his team regularly in recent weeks and while performances have largely been of a similar standard, it’s been missed chances that have cost them most.

“It's not about the changes we made,” insisted the Fleet boss. “Of course, it worked perfectly for us because Kieran Monlouis played a strong game again, Will Wood played a good game, and the others as well with two new signings.

“Dom started again, that’s always a coin flick for my strikers - who’s starting, who’s on the bench and can make an impact. That’s more depending on the opponent rather than who’s scoring or not scoring.

“As I’ve shown many times before I’m not scared to make five or six changes. At the end of the day, I trust the whole squad. Even if someone says these players are maybe not good enough, I trust everyone and I have no doubt to make five changes knowing that they can deliver in the same quality.

“Everyone is working hard in training, everyone is on the same page and everyone can deliver the same thing.

“I’m really proud of it because it’s not normal. Not everyone in this division can make five or six changes and the boys deliver. It would make a big impact, otherwise everyone would do it.

“St Albans is the best example, they played with the same XI three days later not because they want to do it but because they have to do it as they think maybe if we don’t do it the quality is not good enough.

“I’m really proud of the boys and happy that we can do it but it doesn’t mean we have to do it all the time. We go with what we need for the next opponent, who’s fresh, who is mentally fresh, who is maybe on a good performance level.”

Reflecting on the win over St Albans, Kutrieb added: “We expected a tight game against a good opponent, fortunately for us they played three games ago (at Havant) and they were a bit tired still.

“We had a good day. Of course, we need to keep working hard, it’s fine to have the win and now we need to make sure we have a few wins on the bounce.

“I was really impressed as the boys delivered a great performance. It was a great start for us, we scored our first chances. If we want to win top games, we need to be clinical and that’s what we were. We haven’t done that against Dartford and Dorking, when you have good chances you have to finish them off.”