Ebbsfleet boss Dennis Kutrieb felt his team deserved maximum points after drawing with Maidenhead on Tuesday night.

It’s just one win in 14 National League games for the Fleet, who sit inside the relegation zone.

But Kutrieb felt there was only going to be one winner at Stonebridge Road and was left to bemoan the manner of Maidenhead’s equaliser.

A Sam Barratt free-kick from 35 yards was blocked but the ball looped wide to Reece Smith on the left wing and he cut inside before scoring.

“It's even more frustrating for me because that was the only way they could score a goal against us,” said Kutrieb.

“We need to see the positives and the team’s performance was definitely in the right direction.”

On the goal conceded, Kutrieb added: “That’s exactly the position we are in at the moment.

“They tried to get a shot on target, it was not like a well-worked training ground move, it was a twice deflected goal, the free-kick was deflected which is how they got the ball and then it gets another deflection.

“But that’s how we concede our goals at the moment, you can’t control that - it’s football.

“I’m frustrated as we deserved to win for our efforts. I think we had more quality, there was not much quality in the game but we definitely showed more and they were very passive.

“I think they came for a draw and they got it. It’s just the luck that you have when you’re down the bottom of the table, last season I don’t think we concede that goal and maybe we score three more.

“We need to focus on the things we can control and change, and we did most of well them.”

On the back of a 4-0 loss at home to Oxford City last Saturday, Kutrieb made five changes to his side.

With players coming back from injury, the Fleet boss indicated he was always going to shuffle his pack.

“We needed fresh legs because playing with 10 men for 60 minutes is always exhausting,” said Kutrieb.

“Another point is we didn’t want to risk any injuries. Greg Cundle, for example, hasn’t played for ages and straight away back-to-back games on Saturday-Tuesday would be a big risk and Chris Solly was similar.

“Matthias Fanimo was out for the first three months, Billy Clifford was suspended and Ouss Cisse came in because we wanted some height in the side as their goals come from set-pieces.”

Kutrieb admitted that the defeat to Oxford hit him hard at the weekend.

“It was not easy at all,” he reflected. “I have to say I was in a very dark place on Sunday morning. This is just how things go against you in football, sometimes they go with you and you’re on the good side.

“The team deserves more than we’re getting at the moment, everyone at the club does including the fans. The owner deserves more, the CEO deserves more.

“I have the responsibility - I don’t go home and think it doesn’t matter. So, it took me half a day and then I focused on the things I could control, and that was to make sure we got a good result on Tuesday.

“You can see, regardless of what it was in the past, you can always do something better, especially in football. You always have a chance.”

Report: Ebbsfleet 1-1 Maidenhead

Ebbsfleet return to action at Oldham this Saturday - a side that has drawn their last four home league games.

“Now we need to pick it up at Oldham, it will be a tough place to go but so far we’ve done quite well against big opponents away from home,” noted the Fleet boss.

“I’m looking forward to it and hopefully we can get three points on the road which we definitely deserve if we put the same effort in again.

“We need to make sure we get the win. I think just one win will give us so much confidence at this moment in time that we really could start something.

“We don’t need to talk about it anymore, we need to do it. Once we’ve got the one win, we can focus on other things, but we need to work hard to get it and get back to where we want to be.”