Ebbsfleet boss Dennis Kutrieb described their win over Concord as a “step in the right direction” on Saturday.

The Fleet ended a run of three successive National League South defeats with goals from Alfie Egan and Greg Cundle securing a 2-1 victory at Stonebridge Road.

A relieved Kutrieb was delighted with the character shown by his players.

“We need to stay tight together, we get nothing gifted,” he said. “We need to work hard and then we will get our results.

“The boys have the right character and I said that when we had our defeats. Sometimes you get a spell when you are unlucky, especially like Oxford City, but you have to overcome it.

“I’m not saying it’s done now and now we start winning (every week) again but it’s a step in the right direction. It was not our best game but we got the three points and that’s the most important thing in football.

“We’re in a tough period at the moment. It’s normal that we don’t have the confidence like we should have, it’s dropped a little which you expect. They need to get that winning feeling back and hopefully we can continue now.

“The boys have great character, they keep working hard and don’t drop their heads or talk too much. They keep working hard and that’s what you need to do if you want to be successful.

“It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, you need to work hard for the next one. That’s what I said when we were winning, nothing changes if you win or lose.”

Kutrieb did not let anything outside the group influence his decision making as the Fleet failed to take advantage of their games in hand, losing to Maidstone, Oxford City and Dulwich.

But he was pleased his team dug deep against stubborn opponents in Concord, who have already beaten the likes of Dartford and Dorking this season.

“For me it’s not like I’ve been distracted,” added Kutrieb.

“When we won six in a row people were saying we’d get promoted or we’d win the league, of course that’s positive but I don’t carried away by it.

“In the same way, it can help when you lose games as you can learn lessons – that’s what we did when we had the two defeats (earlier this season) and hopefully now we do it again after the three defeats.

“Of course, it has hurt a lot, it hurts me, it hurts the players and everyone in the club. You want to have the winning feeling. I said to the boys that we needed to dig deep and that’s what we did. It’s not always (possible) when you have a good squad and players that they are able to dig deep as well.

“Everyone is working hard and trying to beat us, so we have to dig deep. I’m proud of them, it wasn’t easy as Concord have had a few good results. They play good football, they have a good approach and are always a threat.”

Kutrieb praised the returning Christian N’Guessan, who started for the first time since August, as well as match-winner Greg Cundle.

“Greg Cundle is on fire, he’s always a threat,” said Kutrieb. “Everyone needs to step up at some time, today it was Greg Cundle, next week it might be someone else.

“Early in the game Christian conceded a foul when he got a yellow card (and was able to then) play such a good game and be calm and make the right decisions. He is a big player for us.

“We subbed him after 60 minutes because we don’t want to rush him. He was composed on the ball, that’s his strength and that’s what we’ve lacked in the last (few) weeks.”