A deal to bring two new players to Ebbsfleet collapsed less than 24 hours before their game against Salford City.

Manager Garry Hill revealed one player was set to leave Stonebridge Road to make the transfers possible.

But on Friday evening it transpired the deal was off, leaving Hill with just 12 senior players to pick from on Saturday.

He said: "We had two players coming in on Friday and it looked like a deal had been done in respect of one out, two in but all of a sudden, at 4.40pm, that was removed from us. That's all I can say.

"We only had an experienced 12 players, an academy and a goalkeeper on there and one other sub apart from Corey Whitely so we are thin on bodies, there's no secret about that.

"We've got one injuries to big players like Cody McDonald, who's out for the season, we've had the skipper (Dave Winfield) out for a while and we've got Chris Bush and Dean Rance suspended.

"We have to keep rolling our sleeves up and keep getting on with it. We can't turn round and look for excuses and I would never do that.

"It's about trying to get the right players. What's gone on in the past at the football club, it looks to me that sometimes players have been signed so no other club can have them. That's not the right way to go to work. You've got to have players you think can benefit the team or be better than what you've got.

"At this time in the season, with the EFL transfer window closed, a lot of clubs only want to send out young kids, 18-year-old players and that doesn't mean they're potentially not good players but it's a man's league and we have to get on with it.

"We've got what we've got so we'll keep battling on and we'll play our last 10 league games of the season and try to get as many points as possible, finish as high as we can and be positive about it.

"I've got nothing but praise for the playing squad since I've come here and the supporters have been different class all the way through.

"Everybody knows it is hard at times but I have seen a great deal around the football club, on and off the field, that we're all rallying together and all credit to everybody because a lot of hard work has been put in.

"When you look at where we were four months ago and where we are now, if I'd said to the genuine supporter who knows the club and is aware it's been hard for everybody on and off the field that we'd be in the top 10 with 10 games to go, from where we were when we came in in November, I think they'd have been very pleased and pleasantly surprised.

"We're not firing on all cylinders at the moment but hopefully over the next 10 days we might get a couple of players back and give us a bit of a lift."