Ebbsfleet United boss Harry Watling says victory against Wealdstone a must as National League’s bottom side look to turn the corner with kinder fixtures in their favour
05:00, 24 October 2024
updated: 07:13, 24 October 2024
Ebbsfleet manager Harry Watling has urged his beleaguered players to put their troubles behind them this weekend.
The Fleet sit bottom of the National League and are now 10 points from safety after Wednesday’s results and face Wealdstone, who are two places above them, at Stonebridge Road on Saturday.
It’s already a must-win game for Watling, whose team have just finished a tough run of fixtures against sides chasing promotion.
Ebbsfleet have a more favourable run of matches ahead of them but Watling knows it will count for nothing if they don’t improve their own performances.
“It has to be about us,” said the Fleet boss. “We can’t rely on whether Wealdstone turn up or not, we have to turn up and we have to make it positive.
“We have to make the place bounce, we have to score early, we have to score again and we have to make a real statement.
“Our season has to be defined by us. We have to make sure we’re in control of everything and when we play the teams in and around us, they become six-pointers.
“We’ve had four games against the top six where we’ve managed to only get a point, but now we’ve got a run of games against teams that are around us.
“We’ve got to dust ourselves down quickly and we need to win on Saturday.”
Watling signed Pape Souare from AFC Croydon and drafted in forward Aaron Cosgrave on loan from FC Halifax before last weekend’s 4-0 loss at York.
But after more individual errors in a 3-1 reverse at Forest Green on Tuesday night, Watling isn’t ruling out more changes.
“It’s really hurting me as I want to get this right and I want to get us out of where we are,” he said. “I want us to be looking upwards so there’s a lot of work to do.
“We will be bringing new faces in. I’ve seen enough, I’ve given people more lives than a cat and I keep getting let down.
“The quality of our work cannot be determined by individuals making errors on the football pitch.”
Ebbsfleet host a Tottenham under-21 side on Tuesday in their second group game of the National League Cup (7pm).