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Ebbsfleet manager Dennis Kutrieb was left to rue two defensive mistakes in their Boxing Day defeat to promotion-chasing Bromley.
The Fleet boss felt his team did enough to win the game but suggested the first two goals scored by the visitors were avoidable.
“We didn’t win the game, I think we should have won the game so I can’t be proud,” said Kutrieb. “Good effort, not good enough in the end.
“Two easy mistakes to let the opponent score but I think that reflects exactly where we are and they are, and that’s where we have to improve.
“Warning or no warning, I don’t know how you can trip over the ball in the sixth minute of the game, in the 95th maybe because you’re tired, it shouldn’t happen that early in the game. Obviously, it was exactly the start we didn’t want to have.
“We had a good second half, put a lot of pressure on the opponent and scored. We were on top of them, made a stupid mistake and conceded a second goal. Luke O’Neill lost the ball on the sideline where he should never give the ball away as he had space, but we gave the ball away there and from there we conceded.
“Against second in the table we did many things okay but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter because we need points.”
Individual errors can’t be rectified on the training ground and Kutrieb added: “You can’t do anything there. If you trip over the ball and the opponent passes into an empty net there’s nothing you can do as a team.
“When you give the ball away like we did for the second goal, there’s not much we can do.
“You can always encourage people to do things the right way, don’t make mistakes or be afraid or anxious about making mistakes. But ideally, they shouldn’t happen in our own third.”
There were positive signs for Ebbsfleet, however. They included a second-half brace for leading scorer Dominic Poleon.
“He was good,” said Kutrieb. “He had a good first half where he made good runs in behind and caused some problems.
“This was definitely good and positive to see him back on the scoresheet.
“Every player is important, we just need to find out how we can stop conceding goals and stop making easy mistakes. As soon as we are able to do that and stop conceding (we’ll be alright).
“If you score two goals against Bromley you’ve definitely had a good game going forward because they are a good defensive team. But you won’t win many games of football if you concede three at home.”
The return game with Bromley is a quick turnaround with the sides meeting again at Hayes Lane on Saturday.
Kutrieb hopes that familiarity will help his side get a positive result.
He noted: “For me, it’s easier because you have the fresh impressions, you know exactly what they have done and the players know what happened so they still remember how my opponent was in my individual position, was he good or bad, was he sharp or aggressive, whatever. For the boys it’s easier as they have a feeling for the team.
“For us it’s difficult as we played a good game and lost, now we need to organise so we play another good game and win. It’s a bit more difficult as you should get something out of the game when you play good.
“I’m always encouraged as I can see we’ve matched up to second in the league but if you don’t get points this is how the business works. You need to make sure you get the business right and we couldn’t get it right again as we conceded too many goals.”
