Ebbsfleet boss Dennis Kutrieb has promised new signings before his squad report back for pre-season training.

The Fleet start preparations for the new National League South season on July 2 and are busy announcing members of last season’s squad who have agreed to stay at Stonebridge Road.

Kieran Monlouis, Greg Cundle, Alex Finney, Elliott Romain, Chris Solly and Shaquile Coulthirst have all remained at the club.

Franklin Domi, who finished the campaign on loan at Ebbsfleet, has agreed a permanent deal after leaving QPR.

Kutrieb believes they are in a great position with so many players available to pick those that are the best fit.

He said: “We’re very happy and I’m confident that when we start pre-season in about two weeks’ time we have assembled a very good squad and then we can adjust the little things that we might need.

“It depends on negotiations and decisions that we have to make or that other people have to make if there will be a spot or if we’ve done our business.

“Our squad was already nearly done so we didn’t need to take every player. We can be picky and choose who we want.

“We need to add quality as we have done in the past. We want to add the right fit and the biggest thing is that we don’t need to rush it so we can take our time.

“Sometimes it’s an easy decision if the player wants to come to us and if we want him.

“But sometimes players always try to play as high up the pyramid as they can. We have to remember we’re National League South.

“We need to tell them our high ambitions but even then players want to be in the highest league possible, regardless of quality and set-up at the club. That’s where we need to be careful.

“If we look back at our business from the first season to the second season then it was already an improvement.

“In the first one we made wrong decisions and in the second year we only had a few that we could have done better. Hopefully we haven’t done anything wrong this year.”

Kutrieb admits the pain of last month’s play-off final defeat to Dorking Wanderers still lingers.

But he’s determined to use that as motivation for the coming campaign - and wants his players to follow suit.

“It still hurts and I think it will hurt even if we achieve bigger things this season,” he said.

“It’s something no one can take away from you. If you experience this kind of pain and you have to suffer then you don’t want to lose again.

“My only challenge now is finding out if the players have forgotten about it or do they feel the same and don’t want to experience that again.

“Along with the new signings we make, we’ve all got to be on the same page but we’ll find that out in pre-season.

“It was a tough defeat to take and you can massively grow and change your mindset because of that experience. We’ll find out in training and in pre-season games straight away if it has changed the players.

“I’m looking forward to the new season, though. It’s another challenge and I love a new challenge.”