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Garry Hill felt the warning signs were there early for Ebbsfleet at Bromley.
Goals from Michael Cheek and Billy Bingham had the Ravens 2-0 up at half-time as Fleet struggled to compete at Hayes Lane.
They came into the game on the back of a 4-1 home defeat to Halifax and Hill admitted that was a factor.
Scroll down to hear what Garry Hill had to say about the match.
He said: "In the first half we couldn’t compete with them. They were half a yard sharper than us, they were winning a lot of the balls and we gave them too much space.
"They were too mobile for us and we were a little bit low on confidence from Saturday. They took advantage of us playing for 80 minutes with 10 men on Saturday and I had no complaints at half-time.
"The danger signs were there very early, some great balls into the box that caused us a lot of problems and I was disappointed with the two goals.
"We had a good chat at half-time and I thought we were a lot better second half. We were a lot tighter, we made the pitch a lot smaller and we were in their faces a lot more. They were playing balls around us in the first half but second half we were a lot more competitive."
Bingham doubled his tally with a wonder strike from distance before Aswad Thomas pulled a goal back late on.
Hill said: "We were starting to take control of the second half for 15-20 minutes and had a big opportunity in the game at 2-0, when we were on top and were starting to put balls in the box early. Aswad Thomas knocked it and Ayo (Obileye) missed a chance there, with 17 minutes to go.
"If that goes in at 2-1, it’s a completely different game because our tails are up and they’re in an awkward situation; do they stick or twist?
"We were doing the basics a lot better and that was a big chance to get ourselves back in the game. It wasn’t a hard chance and within three minutes the boy (Billy Bingham) has capitalised on a wonderful strike.
"Then you start looking and thinking how you’re going to be in the last 15 minutes but I’ve got to try to take positives.
"I’ve got a new group of players at the football club and we’ve got to be patient. They don’t become bad players overnight. You saw some of the pre-season football.
"It is hard for me and the club when you’re losing Bally (James Ball) who’s having to play at the back, you’re losing that drive out of midfield with him, Ayo and Lawless. You’re losing what you had in pre-season.
"We lost Jack King tonight at the back, we lost him on Saturday after nine minutes.
"I will never look for excuses but people have to understand we are a new structured group, financially, football-wise, with new players coming to the club, but I saw signs in the second half, irrespective of the result, that I thought were encouraging.
"Bromley are a good side, especially here. They thoroughly deserved to win the game and the damage was done in the first half."
It may have been a bad night for Ebbsfleet but Hill spoke passionately after the game of his desire to take the club forward.
"There’s no problem with me or other people at the football club," he said. "This is a very special football club and it means a lot to me. I think I’ve shown that.
"We knew it was going to be tough this year. Rome ain’t built in a day and we’ve got a new changing-room in there. They need the support of the fans and they got it on Tuesday.
"The level-headed fan will say to himself ‘you can’t put square pegs into round holes when you’re so thin on bodies.’
"I don’t care what anybody else says, I know what I’ve got in the middle of midfield and when I’ve got them, we’re competitive. When I’ve got three at the back, I know what we’ve got. I know what the best is other players can do going that way.
"We’ll be all right but it’s a challenge. I’m not silly.
"I looked at the league fixtures the same as everybody else and when you look at what Bromley have done this season, they’ve got some very good players from Ebbsfleet, that’s football, and we know why they’ve got players from Ebbsfleet.
"When I look at Bromley, followed up by Fylde and Solihull, you’ve got to play the 46 games but there’s other games in other places you could pick at the start of the season.
"It’s harder when you’ve got a new squad trying to gel, even more so with the numbers but roll on Saturday because we’ve got to be positive and we’ve got to keep fighting.
"There will never be a problem with me at the football club."
