Sam Deering made a big impression on his Ebbsfleet debut at the weekend.

The midfielder joined from Whitehawk on Friday and was named on the bench for Fleet's home fixture against Gosport Borough the following day.

Just 11 minutes into the game, Deering was thrust into the action as a replacement for the injured Matt Godden and he was named man-of-the-match as Ebbsfleet won 2-0.

Fleet boss Daryl McMahon said: "I thought he was terrific.

"He’s a very good footballer, he’s got a terrific football brain. He’s small but he’s brave, he’s got a big heart and he’s similar to Kissock in that sense.

"He’s brave on the ball, will receive the ball in tight situations, manipulates it well and he plays it forward, keeps the ball for us.

"I thought he did really well considering he hadn’t even trained with us. He literally came in on Friday and turned up today (Saturday)."

Deering was always available for a pass in central areas or wide on the right.

He received some rough treatment from the Gosport players but picked himself up every time and showed the Fleet faithful a glimpse of his playmaking talents.

Deering said: "It was fun. I haven’t trained, so this was my first session really.

"I’ve played with a couple of the boys before but when it’s new players, you need to get that connection. To be fair, I thought I had that already.

"Fortunately enough, I got on early and got to show a little bit of what I can do and we got the win so it’s a good start."

Read more from Sam Deering in the Gravesend Messenger on Thursday.