Welcome back to Kenilworth Road for our first match in league action since we beat Eastbourne Borough here just after Christmas.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to Liam Daish, his staff, players, the directors and supporters of Ebbsfleet United to today's important game.

After the game with Eastbourne I admitted that I took a brave decision to go on the offensive.

They say fortune favours the brave, so I was delighted that we were able to execute our game plan in a professional and workmanlike manner.

Fortunately for us - after going behind early in the game - we were quick to get back on level terms almost straight away, and from that point onwards, I thought we looked dangerous going forward, especially in periods in the first half.

We took that positive to Southampton and were confident of adding to the excellent results we have already achieved in the competition already this season.

It very was disappointing to go in at half-time a goal down. Given the circumstances before the free-kick that led to the goal, we felt we didn't deserve to be a goal down.

In the second period we changed things around which had the desired effect and I thought our second half performance warranted a goal which we were unfortunate not to find to earn a replay.

The recent bad weather has been a real frustration to everyone and the snow and frozen pitches has affected our training where we haven't been able to train on grass very much.

With our game against Salisbury City postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, it meant we went to Gateshead last Saturday without playing a competitive fixture for three weeks.

It wasn't the greatest pitch we will ever play on and hardly the ideal surface to resume our league campaign on after 21 days without playing.

As a result I thought we looked rusty and I said to the players that I wasn't surprised with the way the game went.

We know we didn't perform to the levels we can but the most important aspect to come out of the game was the result and the three points won, even if it needed a fortunate goal to settle it.

At Histon on Wednesday, on a much better pitch that at Gateshead, we started like we did on Saturday but as they game wore on we stamped our authority and quality on it and deservedly picked up our third straight victory.

There were so many positives to come out of that game, none more so than our excellent second half showing although we were a little disappointed not to have won by more goals.

The game also saw the return of striker Liam Hatch and once again underlined the amount of quality throughout the squad which will be crucial given the amount of matches we have to play between now and the end of the season.

With so many rearranged matches to play we have the chance to really put a strong run of results together and today gives us the opportunity to continue our good run in the league.

That is the kind of momentum we need to get where we want to be and, as I have said on many occasions before, it promises to be an exciting second half of the season.

Enjoy the game and once again keep up your excellent support like we saw at Southampton, Gateshead and Histon.

Richard.