Ebbsfleet boss Dennis Kutrieb insisted money isn’t everything after landing the National League South title.

The Fleet retained their full-time status following demotion from the National League on points per game at the end of the Covid-curtailed 2019/20 season.

It means they’ve had a target on their backs ever since but it’s one thing having a big budget - it’s another spending it wisely.

“Honestly, I just laugh about it,” said Kutrieb. “It’s nothing to do with money. You have other clubs that spend millions and don’t get anywhere.

“Obviously, it’s a help but we don’t need to talk about it. If I can have a squad of 20-24 players, having quality, then we have to do something.

“But everyone can have a squad of 24 players and work with them over the season. You don’t need to have a squad of 17-18 players and then chop and change every week and bring players in.

“We have clubs in our league that have already used more than 60 players. This is ridiculous for me but everyone has their own approach.

“I need to make sure that I do what I think is right. Everyone can do what they want but it’s nothing to do with money. Money helps, definitely, but you don’t go anywhere with money if you don’t have any ideas of what you want to do on the pitch, with the boys in possession or off the ball.

“I’m very proud. It will take a while to sink in but it’s amazing and over the next few weeks I will see what we have achieved.”

Ebbsfleet’s title chances looked in the balance when they lost four league games on the spin at the turn of the year - including twice to rivals Dartford who briefly took over top spot.

That led Kutrieb to reset his troops and set a target of 15 wins in the second half of the campaign. The impressive victory over third-placed Oxford City on Good Friday was their 15th win, an incredible run which will see them win the title by a massive margin.

“We kept calm, the owner (Dr Abdulla Al-Humaidi) and Damian Irvine (chief executive) stayed calm,” reflected Kutrieb.

“They supported me all the time, even when we went through a tough period losing twice to Dartford.

“People started to moan and said we had no clue what to do and no other ideas, but at the end of the day we kept believing and made sure we went in the right direction as a team.

“Funnily enough, I told the boys on January 2 that we need 15 wins to get promoted and Friday was the 15th win. That makes the story even bigger because if you walk into our changing room there is a ‘1’ left and if you rip this off then we’re champions. It’s a funny story because we’ve got the trophy now.”