Ebbsfleet manager Kevin Watson has insisted his team are not bottom of the league material.

The Fleet returned to the foot of the National League at the weekend after their home game against Woking was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

“We find ourselves bottom of the league but I’m 100 per cent sure, we’re not a bottom of the National League team,” said Watson.

“Our performances show me that and I’ve said all along that we need to turn those draws into wins.

“The run we’ve been on means there are eight or nine teams just above us now involved. There are 21 games left which is a lot of points to play for.

“I know that we’re not going to win them all but I believe we’ll win quite a few and get out of trouble.”

The Fleet are now six points away from safety after fellow strugglers Chesterfield, Aldershot and Sutton all picked up wins on Saturday.

But Watson knows his players cannot afford to worry about things outside of their control.

“It’s something that I need to impress upon the players,” said Watson. “There’s nothing we can do about the other games being played.

“We can’t control Chesterfield going to Torquay and winning or Sutton beating Wrexham, that’s out of our hands.

“All we can do is focus on when we play and pick up results.

“I’m not overly worried. People say we’re bottom but every one of those players know we’re better than that.”

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Fleet face two games inside 48 hours with a trip to Dagenham (1pm) on Boxing Day before they host Dover (3pm) at Stonebridge Road on Saturday.

It’s a gruelling schedule but Watson is hoping that not playing last weekend and giving his players Christmas Day off could work in their favour.

“I’ve been at clubs where we’ve been in on Christmas Day,” said Watson. “I’m not sure that’s the correct thing to do.

“I was at Stevenage with Teddy Sheringham and we trained for two hours on Christmas Day. We went to Crawley on Boxing Day and lost 2-0 – and Crawley didn’t train the day before.”

Ebbsfleet and Dover both train at K Sports but Watson joked: “We share the same training ground but there isn’t any spygate there. I’ve refrained from looking through the fence or climbing any trees to see what they’re up to!”

Fleet’s players trained together on Tuesday and have had their own schedule to work to on an individual basis, devised by fitness coach Craig Lewis.

“It’s all about trust,” added Watson. “They know that I can tell if they’ve been mugging it off or doing the work.

“I’ve got to have trust in those players. We’re a National League team and I class them as professional footballers.

“They need to behave like professional footballers, eat and drink the right stuff, and I’ve seen enough to know that they do that.”

Marvel Ekpiteta (back) returned to training last Friday but Watson may be reluctant to make many changes from the FA Trophy win at Enfield Town.

Alex Lawless is not expected to return from injury until mid-January while John Goddard could be back in a week.

“John would have warmed up with the lads last Saturday,” added Watson.

“He is just shy of being involved. He will be like a new signing for us and I’ll be delighted to have him back.”

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