Fleet boss admits he got it wrong

Ebbsfleet boss Liam Daish admitted he got his tactics wrong against Boro at the weekend and was relieved to escape The Lamex Stadium having kept the tie alive.

Daish's side were overrun in the first half with Boro racing into a 2-0 lead but the Irishman's change of formation at the break from 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-2 got Fleet back into the contest.

Derek Duncan was brought on to replace Danny Slatter and the Trophy holders didn't look back with goals from Neil Barrett and Stacy Long giving them a fighting chance in the second leg on Saturday despite David Bridges' late winner.

"Maybe in hindsight I may have made the wrong decision in selection, but you do not want to change too much when you beat the league leaders (Burton Albion, 2-1). It is all hindsight and if you had laid 3-2 on the table there would have been a few takers and I would have been one of them."

Daish, who was sent to the stands in the latter stages for kicking a water bottle on to the field, paid tribute to the character of his side after the Trophy looked to be slipping from their grasp after the first period.

"I said to the lads 'we are not bad side'," Daish told the Kent News. "I have got to give credit to the players in the second half. We were more on the front foot and met the ball with more aggression and it gave us the platform to get back in the game.

"I would have taken 3-2 at half-time. I suppose you can be disappointed in bringing the game back to 2-2 and then to lose, but that is what happens sometimes."

Meanwhile, Fleet have been rocked by the news that Barrett will miss the season's remainder after suffering a fractured jaw and depressed cheekbone on Saturday.

Barrett sustained the injury scoring Fleet's first goal when he collided with Mark Roberts after heading home early in the second period.