Ebbsfleet manager Dennis Kutrieb has urged his team to show more urgency after losing for the first time this season on Saturday.

The Fleet failed to get going in the first half against Solihull Moors and their late rally was not enough to avoid a 2-1 defeat at Stonebridge Road in the National League.

“We definitely learnt that 45 minutes is not enough to deliver a good performance,” said Kutrieb.

“The first half was nowhere near good enough for us. Second half was much better, there was more urgency and it looked a bit different. That’s the harsh reality in the National League.

“We need to be a little bit more urgent so when we go forward, we really want to go forward and not for the sake of passing the ball around. If we can make good decisions to go forward and enter the box and get shots off then let’s do it and don’t wait for the right opportunity because you can see in the National League we won’t get every minute a chance to enter the box and score a goal.

“From this point of view, we have to make sure we do the right decisions and always have in your head we want to score goals. That was the most obvious thing for me.

“Both goals they scored were from our easy mistakes, I would say. Regardless of foul or no foul on Dom Poleon (for the first goal), he claimed a foul. But we need to learn that we don’t give the ball away easily otherwise we get punished and they go home with three points.

“We sit here and don’t know why we haven’t won the game but we need to do it better. The good thing is we have a chance straight away in three days and that’s the positive.”

The game’s most controversial moment came early in the second half when there appeared to be a foul on Fleet’s Greg Cundle in the build-up to Solihull’s second goal.

Kutrieb was bemused that the officials failed to give a free-kick to his side.

“When you get promoted from the National League South you think that now we have a fourth official and the referee will be better – it’s not the case, as simple as that,” said the Fleet boss.

“We can’t waste our time to discuss the referee’s decisions and all these things. Everyone could see what was happening.

“We got the first booking after two minutes, if the referee set the line that’s fine for me. As I said during the week to KentOnline, as soon as the rules are the same for everyone I’m fine.

“Last week (at Rochdale), we had five minutes added time and then nine minutes (in the second half) without any time-wasting. Today we had six minutes so where’s the clear line? That’s always the same.

“If I had a clear line, I give every single foul then give every single foul but not one side this, one side this, one time this, one time this, it’s just not good enough. It’s wasted time speaking about it because we can’t change it anyway.

“I can’t be happy with scoring one goal, we could have scored a few more but we haven’t because especially in the first half we were not urgent enough to enter the box and make the goalkeeper work.

“Obviously, it’s always tough when you need to chase a two-goal lead, especially in the spell of them scoring the second goal we had a really good spell and were on top of them. Then from an embarrassing decision, we conceded a second goal, but it is what it is.

“We came back and I had a feeling there was enough time to go, I was sure it would be 10 minutes minimum added time, maybe even more, that’s why I got our second striker on late on as I was sure. Last week without time-wasting was nine minutes, this week with time-wasting for everyone who’s smart thinks a minimum 10 or maybe 15 like Chesterfield last week. But obviously, the rules change from one week and we have to get on with it.”

The Fleet might have enjoyed the better possession and forced more corners but Kutrieb knew the only stat that mattered on the day.

“The only thing that matters is the result, last week we got a result and this week we haven’t,” he added. “I’ve always said the most important thing is the result.

“Yes, I want to see progress and doing things better and this will end up with right results but we haven’t done enough and we have to be honest there. If you don’t do enough, especially in the first half, then you don’t win in the National League.

“Last season sometimes we came away with a good 45 minutes but this won’t be enough this season. It’s good to learn because when you lose games you feel more pain and feel more like we have to do better. When you win a game, you can get away with it.”