Ebbsfleet manager Danny Searle isn’t ready to make wholesale changes but admitted that every shirt is up for grabs.

The Fleet were blown away by Gateshead on the opening day of the National League campaign, gifting their hosts a number of goals on their way to a 5-1 humbling.

After a promising pre-season ended with a 1-1 draw against League 1 newboys Crawley, the manner of the performance at Gateshead means every player’s spot is under threat.

“That’s the brutal reality of it,” confirmed Searle. “We selected the team last Saturday and were confident in the selection we made, it was the same team that started against League 1 Crawley the week before and pretty much dominated the first half.

“We were confident. The comment was that’s your shirt, how long you keep it for is up to you. If you keep performing, you keep your shirt. If you don’t perform then you give it away and wait for your next opportunity.

“I don’t think that’s being unfair or unreasonable, that’s the honest truth with any player. What everyone did on Saturday who started the game, they are standing there with their hand held out at the minute offering the shirt back because that’s what the level of performance showed. They didn’t do enough to keep the shirt.

“How many changes we make? We’re not sure yet. We need to look at it and be pragmatic and sensible. It’s easy just to throw a grenade in and blow it up, make seven, eight, nine changes. But it’s still the same group of players that got a more than justified draw against a League 1 side the week before and we have to bear that in mind as much as, yes, there are some tweaks that need to be made.”

Searle admitted that the defeat came as a surprise but they won’t be dwelling on the opening-day display.

The Fleet boss closed the chapter on that book on Monday – but not before holding players, and staff, responsible for what happened in the north east.

“We had to go through everything, through our mistakes individually and collectively because the players are the ones that delivered the performance they did on Saturday,” added the Fleet boss.

“The staff as well, we’ve spoken about our part in it, what we could have done better, the changes we could have made, and as a collective we went through it and now it’s done. There’s no point dwelling on it, we’ve got to prepare for Barnet and make sure we give a far better account of ourselves and look more like we look.

“I’d question anyone who said they expected that to happen as we certainly didn’t. The Gateshead manager didn’t expect that as we’ve been very hard to beat since February and that was nothing like what we are about.

“We asked the players to watch the game back before we sat down on Monday as one thing we’ve tried to bring into the club is an open accountability of being able to hold your hand up and admit when you’ve done something wrong, and be in a safe enough environment to do that without being made to feel that everything was your fault.

“If you look at the goals we conceded, there was a mistake which led to a mistake which led to a mistake and there were three or four players culpable. We’re not just going to throw the first person under the bus but you’ve got to be brave enough to watch the clip in front of everybody and take it on the chin.

“For me, it’s the only way we’re going to get better and ensure it doesn’t happen.”