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Ebbsfleet manager Dennis Kutrieb hopes their excellent FA Cup run doesn’t take the focus away from their league campaign.
The Fleet reached the Second Round for the first time in 19 years on Saturday with a 2-1 win over National League FC Halifax.
It means they’re in Monday night’s draw and are one tie away from a potential meeting with Premier League opposition.
But Kutrieb’s number one target remains promotion from National League South – and he’s hoping there isn’t a negative to come from a cup run that has seen Ebbsfleet progress through four ties so far.
“It always can (be a distraction),” stated Kutrieb. “I’m scared in general because when I see teams having a FA Cup run they normally struggle in the league. That’s what I could see last season with Boreham Wood, St Albans and Kidderminster.
“From that point of view it is a bit concerning but we have a big squad so it should be alright. The good thing is the next FA Cup is pretty soon, we don’t have long to think about it as it’s in three weeks’ time.
“It’s another league game that we have to rearrange but it’s the time from now to the end of December where we have so many games to play. If there are games now cancelled for next January or February, I’m not really concerned but it’s this time that’s the concern.
“When you have to go every three days, you’re a bit scared and hopefully no-one gets injured.”
Dartford regained top spot in National League South but have now played three games more than the Fleet, who continue a run of Saturday-midweek fixtures when they travel to Hampton on Tuesday night.
Ebbsfleet banked a further £41,000 in prize money on Saturday to add to the £18,375 already collected so far.
Kutrieb feels it is well deserved as the club strive to progress off the pitch.
“It’s great for the supporters and the club to be in the Second Round, it’s really important for the club,” added the Fleet boss.
“You can gain some money and the club deserve that as they’re doing things in the right way. I’ve been here for two and a half years and the credit is to the club because whatever they have to do, they do it in the right way.
“They deserve a lot of respect and reward. This is something where we can get rewarded with a good draw. We deserve credit as a National League South club to make the Second Round and the players deserve it too.
“For me personally, it doesn’t matter because I want to win the league and nothing else.”
As for Monday’s draw, Kutrieb would normally want the lowest-ranked team in the competition but given most sides will be from the EFL, the boot is on the other foot this time around.
“If I speak and say I want to play the lower-ranked team again then maybe we should play against ourselves!” joked Kutrieb. “I don’t know who else is in there, we can’t change what happens and we’ll be happy whoever we get as it will be another good challenge and we’ll see where we are.”
As for the win over FC Halifax, Kutrieb was delighted with his team, his only concern was their lack of cutting edge in front of goal during the second half.
“It was a deserved win,” he said. “There’s was no doubt, we had the clear-cut chances and needed to score more goals.
“It helped that they had a red card but the only criticism I had was that we needed to finish the game off. That’s the only thing, and that I can say that after an opponent from above us is a big credit to the boys.
“They are fit and can run as well so we needed to keep the tempo high. If we’d slowed it down, they had enough power. It worked quite well, we had a little spell in the first half when we could have done better with our passing but the beginning of the second half was outstanding. We conceded a little bit too quickly after we scored.
“You want to hold on for the lead for a bit longer to see how the opponent will react but I was really positive at half-time. We had dominated the first half in big spells so I told them at half-time not to worry about the scoreline, it wasn’t a reflection of the game.”
