Ebbsfleet United boss Daryl McMahon considering whether to start Danny Haynes against Gosport Borough
08:00, 14 October 2015
updated: 08:07, 14 October 2015
Danny Haynes could be in line for his full Ebbsfleet debut on Saturday.
The former Ipswich and Charlton winger has made 12 substitute appearances since joining the Fleet in August but he's yet to start for Daryl McMahon's side.
National South leaders Ebbsfleet travel to Gosport this weekend having lost their last two games and Haynes - a good impact sub so far - could bring a different dimension to their starting XI.
McMahon said: "I don’t make harsh decisions and I don’t do knee-jerk reactions.
"Danny came on against Whitehawk at half-time and got us back into that game. He also came on against Havant and played well in that game as well.
"Danny was due to start against Chelmsford in the FA Cup but he pulled out in the warm-up through injury so we missed him for that game and the replay.
"I did want to play him and that would have been a good opportunity for him to get 90 minutes under his belt.
"It’s difficult to change a winning team. We’ve been fantastic so far this season so it’s been difficult for him to get into the team. When he’s come on, he’s always made an impact and he’s not far away from playing.
"We haven’t got there just because of 11 players, we’ve got there through a squad effort. I’ll pick the team that I think is right to play Gosport on Saturday."
Gosport are two points outside the play-off places and have conceded just nine goals this season.
McMahon watched them lose 2-1 to Whitehawk in the FA Cup on Tuesday night, his assistant manager Steve Gritt having scouted the first meeting in Sussex on Saturday.
"They’re a good side," McMahon said. "We haven’t got any easy games in this league because every team wants to beat us.
"There’s a marked improvement in most teams that play against us because they want to beat us, especially now we’re sitting where we are in the table.
"They’re a good side, they’ve got a good manager who knows the level well and he’s been successful."
Saturday's game will be Ebbsfleet's first for two weeks due to their early FA Cup exit.
McMahon said: "It has been a good break. When you’re in the mix of that Saturday-Tuesday, sometimes you do lose yourself and you’re just living game-to-game.
"This period has given us a good time of reflection. We’ve had lots of chats about different things, what’s happened so far this season.
"People have seen how we want to play and I think that as the season goes on, people will try to work us out and we have to evolve against that. We’re looking at, different ways of breaking teams down and using different players to break teams down."
McMahon expects his side to get back on the winning trail quickly.
He said: "I look at the performances as well as the results. Have we not created chances in the games we’ve played? We have. If we were playing badly and not winning, that’s a different thing altogether.
"In the second half against Maidstone we weren’t great but in the first half we were decent and against Chelmsford, we were very decent, so I’m not too concerned by it."