Ebbsfleet boss Dennis Kutrieb insists his footballing philosophy won’t change as they move up a level.

The Fleet were easy on the eye with their passing style, playing out from the back, on their way to the National League South title this season.

The squad will report back for pre-season training at the end of June and while a more physical challenge awaits them in the National League, Kutrieb is keen to stick to his principles.

“We have definitely to adapt to this league,” explained the Fleet boss. “Teams will be stronger, they will be more physical, they will find ways how they can set traps to beat us and win the ball.

“We just need to work hard in pre-season, the style won’t change as the style is the style - that’s what we want to do.

“That’s how we got our success so there’s no need to change it in general but you need to mix it up, you need to be smart and make the right decisions.

“We conceded 47 goals over the season, if you find more than two goals where we were really sloppy, and gave cheap goals away, I would be surprised. That’s the difference.

“Yes, we want to play and we want to play on the floor but the most important thing is we don’t want to concede.

“If it’s not possible to play then we don’t play and this is something we need to adapt. We need to be smart enough to make good decisions.”

The Fleet are once again drip-feeding the players who have agreed to stay at Stonebridge Road, although the vast majority of the squad are expected to remain for the coming campaign.

In the past week, Omari Sterling-James, Luke O’Neill, Franklin Domi and Toby Edser have all had their new deals confirmed, while Kutireb has extended his deal until summer 2026.

The Fleet are yet to announce any new signings but Kutrieb is quite clear in the direction they are heading.

“Whatever we do with the squad we need to get people in who can make more right than wrong decisions,” he stated.

“I think this is a very easy rule for us. You can see all the new signings last summer - Omari outstanding season, Luke O’Neill outstanding season, Josh Wright - whenever he was on the pitch - outstanding. You can see all these players making more right than wrong decisions.

“We need to make the right decisions, the right calls. We know exactly what we want, I could tell you every single detail of what our target players need.”

Once his squad is finalised, Kutrieb knows exactly what he wants. And his players will be left in no doubt, either.

“I know they think sometimes that I’m crazy but I know exactly what to expect from my boys,” he stated. “If they deliver it I’m happy, if they don’t deliver it I tell them and they always try to do as much as they can.

“That we get promoted with style was outstanding. We scored the most goals, conceded the least, got an amazing points average per game, and that is something remarkable.

“We can be proud and we’ve got a few records which is perfect. I’m in a very good position as it’s now my fourth promotion. I’m just proud of the boys and how they did it.”