Ebbsfleet boss Dennis Kutrieb believes his side face a mental battle as much as a football one this weekend.

The Fleet head to Dorking Wanderers on Saturday for the National League South play-off final with the winners gaining promotion to non-league’s top table.

While the game pits together arguably the division’s two best footballing sides, Kutrieb believes the match could be won or lost by what goes on in their heads.

“We know pretty much what they do, and they know what we do,” said Kutrieb.

“I would say these are two footballing sides in this league that try to play whenever they can.

“It’s a question if we want to stop or let them play and do something slightly different. We will work on a matchplan, we will see who is available, where their strengths and weaknesses are.

“Even though they were second in the league, they lost games like we lost games as well so they have weaknesses. We have weaknesses as well so we will try to make the right decisions to exploit theirs.

“The most important thing is that we are mentally strong and we are prepared with our mindset, and in the right state of mind for a promotion final.

“It’s not about who is the better footballing side on the day, it’s about who is ready in their head to go and grab this.

“The mindset will play a huge role, we need to have the right mindset. If they don’t have the right mindset and we do then we will have an advantage.

“If it’s the other way round, then they will have an advantage.”

Dorking go into the game as favourites. They have home advantage, the majority of support in a sell-out crowd at Meadowbank and an impressive record on their 3G pitch.

But with that comes the weight of expectation, no matter how much the hosts try to play that down.

“I know [Dorking manager] Marc White quite well, he will try to play the game down as much as he can when he does his Friday weekly update interview,” said Kutrieb.

“He will say it’s a great game of football, they’re (Ebbsfleet) a full-time side and he will come to enjoy the game. I can do the same but I don’t mind or care.

“Both teams will feel pressure during the game, but we want to win and they want to win.

“They have the expectation to win this game. It’s not like they will say hello to Ebbsfleet and let them pass and they’re happy to be in a final.

"They will try to win and so will we, so it’s pressure on both sides.

“If we have the composure and make more right decisions then we have a good chance to make the last step.”

The final will be played amidst the backdrop of a league battering still hanging over the sides. Sefa Kahraman’s early red card was pivotal when Dorking beat Ebbsfleet 5-1 in January.

It was a bad day at the office for Kutrieb’s team but not one he’s reading too much into.

“Even worse than the result was that we picked up massive injuries but they are all back now - Finney, Jomabti and Bingham,” said Kutrieb.

“We had a sending-off with Sefa. I think if that game was with a different referee who understood the game - and I hope we get a good referee because it’s a final and there’s so much to play for - then the game would have been fine.

“If we played that game with 11 men then we would never lose it 5-1, because we could have been two-up in 10 minutes and then once we had a man down it was a completely different game.”

Whatever either manager says, though, their campaigns have come down to one game. Extra-time and penalties potentially await, but there’s no hiding place and Kutrieb is ready to embrace the challenge.

“We’ve worked for nearly two years together and this is the biggest day in those two years,” he stated.

“During the season you always say this is the biggest game or the FA Cup is a big game, but there’s no bigger game than a promotion final.

“I’m pretty relaxed because I trust my players, every single one of them. I have no fear of going there, I’m very excited as I think we have to do something right there that went wrong.

“We need to make the wrongs right and show everyone that we are able to win massive games.

"We’ve grown up during the season, we’ve lost games against strong opponents but later on we rarely lost games to good opponents.

“We are eight unbeaten and I’m excited and looking forward to what is going to be a great game of football.”