Ebbsfleet boss Dennis Kutrieb insists the plaudits from their FA Cup run will count for nothing if they lose ground in the race for promotion.

The Fleet were knocked out in the Second Round by League 1 Fleetwood on Sunday but their focus returns to National League South this weekend with a home clash against Slough.

It’s the first of four games in 10 days for Kutrieb’s side, who were knocked off top spot by neighbours Dartford last weekend.

“I will drum it into them because we can’t afford to play a good game against League 1 opposition and then not do our homework when you play in the league against opponents who, with due respect, don’t have the quality of a League 1 side,” stated the Fleet boss.

“You have to bounce back and be ready but I’m not concerned as I will take care of it. The boys have good character and know they have to deliver from this Saturday.

“It’s daily work and hard work, doing the basics in the right way and preparing right for Slough. They have had a change in the management team so they will make a few adjustments after their defeat on Saturday.

“We will show, as always, what we want to do and how we want to do it and where the opponent might have some weaknesses. Then we go to Worthing on Tuesday night where we have to do exactly the same.

“The good thing is we have many fit players now where we can change it in the next few weeks and everyone doesn’t have to play all four games, that’s a positive. We will see how we approach it in detail this week but the general is we need to work hard and make sure that our opponent is not on top of us.

“We have four games in two weeks so it’s a big time to get some points.”

Ebbsfleet have four games in hand on new leaders Darts and two matches to catch up on Havant, both teams going above them last Saturday.

Kutrieb’s men remain big favourites to win the title but with the winter months ahead, the Fleet boss knows there are plenty of hurdles to overcome.

“I don’t like to have games in hand as you never know what will happen,” added Kutrieb.

“It doesn’t mean anything at the moment, we have to make sure we win our games and then we’ll be there.

“In four weeks’ time we play Dartford twice. I saw them on Saturday, we saw Slough as well and we saw Worthing last Tuesday so we’re prepared for the league games.

“At the moment we’re third in the table and we have to be ready to win games [to get] to the top.

“The hard work starts now. It’s getting cold and wet, we have to be prepared for so many twists and turns.”

The Fleet have enjoyed their best FA Cup run for 19 years but promotion is their goal and they need to arrest a slide of three straight defeats, albeit two of them have come in national cup competitions.

“You can see in the season already that we’re going in the right direction but you can’t buy anything for that because it’s still early,” said Kutrieb.

“If we’re there at the beginning of April then we’re in a good situation. We need to bounce back from the FA Cup defeat.

“When you have a feeling as a player that you can get something out of the game and you don’t, then it’s always tough to swallow and be ready.

“It doesn’t give us anything if we don’t make sure we win our league games now. This is a nice distraction and it was small margins but it was big enough margins to give us a 1-0 defeat.

“If you see that effort and quality in every single league game then you won’t be worried about losing many games. But obviously it’s a massive difference as it’s not the FA Cup. If we turn up like we have done on Sunday then we don’t need to be worried.”

Saturday's game against Slough kicks off at 3pm before a trip to seventh-placed Worthing on Tuesday night.