Ebbsfleet’s Darren McQueen is ready to prove he’s still good enough to shine in the National League.

McQueen, who has previously been used mainly as a wing-back by Fleet boss Dennis Kutrieb, relished a more familiar attacking role as he bagged a brace in last weekend’s win over Boreham Wood.

The 28-year-old is no stranger to non-league’s top flight having previously played two seasons in the National League at Ebbsfleet although he was most recently used predominantly as a substitute during his time at Dagenham.

“I’ve been at other teams at this level and haven’t really been a consistent starter,” reflected McQueen.

“I’ve had a lot of opportunities this season and I just want to prove to the manager and myself that I should be playing and that I can do good things at this level.

“We’ve got a big squad, and there’s going to be a lot of rotation when you play. As the squad is big, there are a few players who can play in my position so I need to make sure that when I play, I deliver.

“I’m hoping off the back of this performance that I can really kick on and do good things for this league.

“Where I played on Saturday is my favourite position. But even last season when I was coming on as a wing-back, I was still scoring, so it’s not an excuse or anything.

“I will play wherever I need to play, wherever the gaffer thinks is best for me to help the team. On Saturday he felt it was right of a narrow three and it paid off.”

Apart from collecting the ball in more attacking areas of the pitch, another benefit for McQueen is that he’ll use less energy on the defensive side of his game.

“As a wing-back you’re responsible for the whole line,” he added. “When Luke O’Neill is behind me at right-back, I still track back and help but I don’t have to do as much defending or track back as far so when I get the ball, I do think I’ve got a lot more energy to go forward and try and make things happen.”

The win over Boreham Wood ended a run of five National League games without a victory for Ebbsfleet.

They’ll hope to build on that at Eastleigh on Tuesday night.

“To be fair I felt that we started well, there were a few opportunities where we could have had a shot but we didn’t,” said McQueen, on Saturday’s win.

“It was one of our best performances this season and definitely something we can build on. We have to keep being positive, we know we’re a good team.

“We don’t need to fear anyone in this league, we just need to believe in ourselves and believe that we can do quite well.

“We just needed to look at ourselves and what we did last season. We need to remember how early we won the league, that we scored however many goals it was, a record amount.

“So it was self-reflection and then belief, doing the basics right and also starting games right. I don’t think we’ve started a lot of these games that well, on Saturday we did and that set the tone.

“I think it was massive on the back of five games without a win. To do it in front of our fans, I think that win is definitely one that we needed.

“It’s a quick turnaround at this stage of the season but it’s an opportunity to get points quickly.

“Fans pay their money to come and watch so I understand if they’re upset as we’ve had games where we haven’t played well.

“We know we haven’t played well, but they need to stick behind us. Obviously, there’s going to be good and bad times but as a club we need to be together and we’ll do well.”