More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Ebbsfleet striker Dominic Poleon is happy to carry the weight of expectation as they aim to avoid relegation.
The 30-year-old took his tally for the season to 12 after scoring twice in the Fleet’s 3-2 National League defeat at home to Bromley on Boxing Day.
The loss saw Ebbsfleet drop a place to 22nd in the table, one point from safety, and all eyes will be on Poleon to help steer them away from danger.
“That’s your job, isn’t it?” responded Poleon, on the expectation of more goals. “Goalkeepers are there to save them, strikers are there to score or make them. If it’s too much pressure, don’t be a footballer.
“I should have a few more but I’ve got to keep chipping away and not getting too high with the highs or too low with the lows. That’s how I try to keep focus.
“Hitting the post twice in back-to-back games had been a bit frustrating so I am happy that I’ve scored but the result matters more to me.”
Poleon did cut a dejected figure despite his brace against Bromley, the second a smart finish after a precise pass from substitute Craig Tanner.
“I’m not happy. I want to win games,” stressed Poleon. “Selfishly scoring goals is cool but the position we’re in, we need to start getting wins on the board. We need to get out of this position and really show what we’re about.
“I’ve been unlucky in that the game before York I hit the post, and the game before that I hit the post, so I feel like it’s been coming. But I can’t even go home and be happy that I’ve scored.
“It’s really bitter-sweet for me, other strikers are happy to score but I want my team to win. I want to get wins on the board, I want to be in a better position in the table and that’s really my main focus.
“The first one was a tap-in and then the second was a great ball from Tanner and I back myself to score goals if I get into those positions and the team create chances for me.”
Ebbsfleet get an immediate chance to bounce back when they visit Bromley this Saturday. Poleon has often been an isolated figure up front but he knows that he needs to take the chances when they come along.
“It’s tough,” he added. “When we’re losing games it’s tough to pick yourself up but the good thing in football is you’ve always got another game.
“The thing for me personally is I want to be involved in the game, and when chances fall to me like they did on Boxing Day then I need to pride myself on taking them.
“Honestly, it’s a results-business in football and while personal accolades are part of it, we’re a team and it’s not an individual result.
'We should have won so I can't be proud'
“I don’t think we played bad (on Boxing Day) but one or two mistakes are costing us at the moment and that’s the luck we’re getting at the moment. When you start slowly and things don’t go your way then you need to come out like that in the second half and impose your game on the opposition.
“We need to refocus and go again in a couple of days. If we can start the return game like we started the second half on Boxing Day then hopefully things will be in our favour. But we need to start right, we can’t keep killing ourselves by going behind and trying to climb a mountain.”
