Ebbsfleet manager Steve Brown will rest most of his senior players when Charlton Athletic visit The PHB Stadium in the Kent Senior Cup on Wednesday night.

Brown's side won the competition last season but this time around, his sole focus is leading the club to promotion in Vanarama Conference South.

And with a lengthy injury list, and a big league game against title rivals Sutton to come on Saturday, Brown will give some of the club's academy players a run-out on Wednesday.

He said: "I might play the kids and get beat by what will be a very good Charlton side. I’ve got to protect these players and the most important thing is Sutton on Saturday.

"I don’t care about the Kent Senior Cup this year because of the expectation levels that have been put on us from the summer onwards. Unfortunately, the cup competitions might have to take a back seat this year.

"I said I’d go for all the cup competitions last year and we were very competitive, but come Wednesday, I’ll take stock of Anthony Cook’s injury, Osborn’s injury, Huke’s injury - the list is endless - Harrington, May, West. I’ve got people carrying knocks as well, so if I have to field a team of under-17s, I will do that and whatever the outcome is, is the outcome."

Brown added: "I’m not really looking forward to Wednesday, to be honest, with the injury list we’ve got. I don’t really want to put anyone at risk but it looks like I’ll have to.

"I can’t field an entire XI, I wouldn’t have thought, of 16-year-old kids – that would be unfair to them. I’ll try to get the balance right on Wednesday of who’s feeling very good and who needs a game. That’s another side of it – we have got one or two that do need a game.

"The important thing for me is building up to Saturday."