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Ebbsfleet United midfielder Jordan Parkes ready to face his former club Hemel Hempstead Town at Stonebridge Road

00:00, 17 March 2016

Opposition players are raising their game at Stonebridge Road to put themselves in the shop window for a possible move to Ebbsfleet.

That’s the view of midfielder Jordan Parkes, who scored against Fleet last season before leaving Hemel Hempstead to sign for them in the summer.

Parkes runs into his old side on Saturday when Hemel aim to become the 10th club to take points off the National League South leaders on their own patch in 2015-16.

Jordan Parkes on the ball for Ebbsfleet against Bishop's Stortford Picture: Andy Payton
Jordan Parkes on the ball for Ebbsfleet against Bishop's Stortford Picture: Andy Payton

He said: "Teams come to Ebbsfleet with a totally different mindset.

"We did it last season even though Ebbsfleet weren’t top of the league then.

"That’s probably why our home form’s not been as consistent as our away form.

"You give that extra 15-20% as a visiting player here. There’s no two ways about it, every player in this league wants to play for Ebbsfleet.

"I did the same last season, wanting to progress and go to a club that’s going forward."

So how do the leaders counter that?

Parkes said: "We’ve just got to focus on ourselves as opposed to how teams are going to come and try to play against us.

"We’ve got the best squad in the league so regardless who comes to town, we should be going out and getting results."

Parkes’ goal at Bath on Saturday took his Fleet tally to 11, although eight of those came in the first six weeks of the season.

He said: "The last few weeks have been tough for me because we’ve had a new baby and I missed a game through her birth.

"I’ve loved it. It’s my second one and it’s a lot harder with two.

"It impacted my football because she was born on a Saturday morning so I missed a game I probably would have played in against Oxford.

"Since then, I’ve been out of the side. That’s the way it is and I’m not too fussed about it. Hopefully now I can kick on again."

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