Cody McDonald is hoping his transfer gamble pays off in the form of a promotion push with Ebbsfleet this season.

The former Gillingham striker left AFC Wimbledon in the summer and quickly had offers from clubs up north.

But McDonald, 32, decided no deal was better than the wrong deal and stayed with his family in Chelmsford.

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He hadn’t kicked a ball in anger this season before coming on for his Fleet debut at Maidenhead on Tuesday.

Ebbsfleet manager Garry Hill made the free agent his first signing and McDonald plans to score the goals to fire his new club up the National League.

Asked what his motivation was for joining Ebbsfleet, he replied: “Success. I’d love to get promoted with Ebbsfleet and I don’t think that’s a big ask.

“We’re sitting in mid-table but with the quality I see in that dressing room, there’s no reason we can’t put a nice little run together.

“Everything I’ve seen in training and the clips I’ve seen of games, I don’t think there’s many teams we should worry about.”

McDonald started pre-season training with Wimbledon but the long commute from Essex began to wear him down.

He left after a conversation with manager Neal Ardley and sat out the first four months of the season.

McDonald said: “It’s been hard because I enjoy football. I like being around the dressing-room and the buzz of matchdays.

“The main reason I’m here is that I’m a family man. I didn’t want to move away. I had a few offers to go up north but I’m not happy to move away from my family.

“My boys are 10 and 12 now so they’re too old to be moving about. I had a gamble and hoped a team more local would come up and thankfully Ebbsfleet have come in and given me that opportunity.

“It’s down to me now to get myself up to speed and I’ll be working hard to get myself in a position to give the manager a headache to play at the weekend.”

McDonald is back alongside his old Gills striker partner Danny Kedwell at Stonebridge Road.

He said: “There’s nothing not to like about playing with Keds.

“He’s a strike partner’s dream because he wins his fair share, gets stuck in, puts himself about and works incredibly hard for the team. That inspires everyone else.

“Sometimes in football you come across people and you don’t cross each other’s paths again.

“In that respect, it’s nice to come into a changing room where you know people – and all the other lads have been great as well.

“It’s been good over the last week to be in and around the place.”