Everybody at Ebbsfleet needs to raise their game this season - including manager Dennis Kutrieb.

That’s the verdict from the 43-year-old German as the Fleet look to establish themselves in the National League.

They’ve made an impressive start, winning 1-0 at Rochdale on the opening day, but Kutrieb knows they need to be meticulous in everything they do.

He watched the Rochdale game from the stands, serving a touchline ban after comments made to the referee following the draw at Farnborough last season, and is determined to set the right example going forward.

“Everyone just needs to be better because in National League South you can afford to come away with a 70 or 80% performance,” said Kutrieb. “Even from my point of view, I came away with a 70 or 80%.

“This season we need to be spot-on with our preparation of the games, we need to be spot-on to prepare the boys the right way, we need to be spot-on with our recoveries. There’s so many things where we need to be spot-on.

“I can’t let myself down by being sent off so I am in the stands and can’t make an impact on the sidelines, for example. So, there’s many things where I have to get better and obviously it’s the same for the boys.

“They need to be better technically this season than last, when it was not needed as much because most of the teams were easier to prepare against as they were mainly the same but that’s going to be different this season.

“They need to listen and they need to be spot-on, get their preparation right and then if we do all the things, like what we did outstandingly on Saturday, then we’ve got a chance to win a game of football.

“If we deliver the basics and get the technical things right, we can look at a side’s threats and weaknesses and see how we can open them up or create chances.

“Everyone has to get better but we’re playing in a higher league, every time you climb up you have to get better as a team because the questions are getting bigger.”

Kutrieb will be back on the sidelines this weekend, but on watching from the stands at Rochdale he added: “It's always possible to organise it for a game or two, as you could see. I could still get my main points across, but a few things I couldn’t really manage as I wasn’t on the sidelines.

“At the end of the day, it’s 45 minutes and then you can make some adjustments at half-time. From that point of view, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world but I wouldn’t like it for more than one game.

“If it’s only one game in the season I am all right with that but I wouldn’t like to do it more often.”

Ebbsfleet host Solihull Moors at Stonebridge Road this Saturday and then entertain Aldershot on Tuesday night.

Two matches in four days should signal the start of Kutrieb utilising his squad.

“I’m really looking forward to this week,” added Kutrieb. “It’s the first National League game back in front of our home fans.

“Solihull last season wanted to get promoted, this season they’ve had a new manager in pre-season. They got a late draw on Saturday, it will be a big challenge for us and we want to impress our fans.

“A few days later, Aldershot might be a surprise team for people as they thrashed Oxford and had a good pre-season. We have to be very careful against them.

“We need to prepare right for both games. We have a nearly full-strength squad so we need to make sure we pick the right players for the right game, we’ll definitely see more players over the next two games and that’s why we have a big squad.

“I said that last season and that will never change. We need to make the right choices to have a chance to win games.”