Ebbsfleet could welcome back several players for their FA Trophy tie against Eastleigh on Saturday.

Their injury list is coming down and boss Daryl McMahon hopes to have more options at his disposal for the all-National League clash in the first round.

He said: “We had 16 fit players on Saturday. Hopefully by this weekend, we’ll have 18 or 19.

“We had Jack Payne sitting in the stand, Dean Rance, Darren McQueen and Bradley Bubb, players who will have an impact on the team hopefully through this next three-week period.

“We’ll treat it like a league game on Saturday. The fact we’re playing Eastleigh at home adds a little bit of spice to it in the sense that we’re in the same division, so I think they’ll go strong and we’ll go strong.”

Fleet are chasing a fourth straight home win after beating Leyton Orient, Hartlepool and Guiseley in the league.

McMahon said: “We’re in a decent vein of form, especially at home, which has been important for us.

“We know we can counter well and pass it well at home so we’ve got a nice blend in the sense of that. I still feel we can get better.”

Asked if his team could make the play-offs, McMahon said: “You don’t know in this league. We’re in and around it but we’ve still got loads to improve on.

“We’ll see where it takes us. We’re not going to make any predictions – all we want to be is competitive and so far we have been.

“We had a horrendous injury run in the first half of the season and if we can start getting some of those players back, hopefully we can get stronger.”