Striker Kwame Thomas has admitted he’s found life in an Ebbsfleet shirt frustrating so far.

The 29-year-old has been limited to just three National League starts and four substitute outings since linking up with the club in pre-season after leaving Aldershot in the summer.

Thomas netted his first goal for Ebbsfleet to rescue a point in stoppage time during the 2-2 draw with Wealdstone last weekend.

“It’s definitely been frustrating,” reflected Thomas. “I came in with two or three weeks of pre-season left. It’s happened a few times in my career now, not getting the full pre-season that I’ve wanted.

“Maybe that’s why I ended up getting a hamstring strain and I tried to rush back too quick in myself and had to have another week or two out. Now I feel fit, I feel fully recovered from the injury.

“Whether I’m playing or not, it’s frustrating watching my team-mates not get the results we all want to get. Only we can change that and for the next two-thirds of the season it can be a lot more positive.

“The biggest thing as a striker is getting a rhythm and you can only get that from a consistent run of games. The injury messed up that but I’m back feeling fit and can get a run of games and minutes in.

“I’m confident, seeing Ben Chapman, Josh Wright, Pape Souare putting in crosses like that, that I back myself to score as that’s my strength.”

It’s a Fleet squad littered with quality but they’ve yet to deliver this season. A poor start has already cost Danny Searle his job and now his replacement, Harry Watling, has picked up just one win in eight league games.

With plenty of Football League experience, and players who are more than good enough to compete at this level, Thomas knows that failing to deliver at either end of the pitch has been their biggest downfall to date.

“Games aren’t won on paper, but if you look on paper throughout our whole team, you’ve got promotions, goals, clean sheets, league experience, internationals, you can go on and on,” he stated.

“But, ultimately, games are won on the pitch as a team. The achievements [of the squad] speak for themselves and now it’s time for us to show that on the pitch.

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“Ultimately in football you look at both boxes, that’s what wins and loses you games. As a team, we’ve not been good enough in the scoring department and we’ve not been good enough defensively.

“It’s about improving those things but also there’s a lot more to football - styles of play, decision making, we’ve had individual errors.

“I’ve played in this league for a few years and when things aren’t going for you then it doesn’t go for you. Sometimes when it goes for you, it really does.

“I’d like to look on the positive side and when I’ve headed the ball for my goal last Saturday, it has come back to me to score. When it’s not going for you, it doesn’t come back, you head it and it goes out the other way.

“Hopefully our fortune is starting to change, we can affect that and only we can change that as players, and that’s what we’re starting to do.”

Despite Thomas’ positive outlook, he admitted that last weekend’s game at home to Wealdstone was an opportunity missed. But he knows there’s still plenty of time left in the season, even though the Fleet sit eight points from safety after 16 matches.

“Don’t get me wrong, we want to get this season fully started sooner rather than later,” stressed Thomas.

“But I think there is a third of the season gone and two-thirds left, so a lot of football still to play.

“It isn’t about looking at the position we’re in right now, it’s about what can we do to perform to the best of our ability. If we perform well then we will win games but we need to do that sooner rather than later.”

Ebbsfleet, who drew 1-1 at home to Tottenham under-21s in the National League Cup before Spurs won the extra point 5-4 on penalties on Tuesday, are without a game this weekend. They return to league action at Tamworth on November 9.