It’s the Fleet’s first Saturday at home of the season as Salisbury make the journey east to face Josh Wright’s squad in the next National League South fixture – writes Libby O’Connell.
Form Guide
The Fleet remain as the only team in the league yet to concede after a 0-0 draw against Hemel Hempstead Town on Tuesday, following the team’s initial victory against Walton & Hersham.
Tuesday’s game saw a slightly different starting XI to the match prior, with Harvey Walker and Camron Gbadebo starting for the first time with Ebbsfleet in a league game since their summer signings. The pair both made a strong start, with Gbadebo even making an Enterpise National League South team of the week appearance.
The game itself was one of intermittent drama, with ignored penalty shouts early on, and Hemel being reduced to 10 men in the second half. Wright swapped in some additional attacking players after the chaos, but the Fleet just couldn’t see it through.
There were strong attempts particularly in the later portion of the game, with Ben Chapman and Lennon Peake having repeated efforts. Toby Edser and Josh Passley also threw some good chances into the mix, and were unlucky not to find the back of the net.
But overall, another clean sheet, and another point on the table still sends the team into Saturday on a positive note.
Salisbury will be coming into Saturday on a high, thanks to a dominant 5-1 victory over Slough on Tuesday night. The game saw a hat-trick from familiar face Nathan Odokonyero, and a fighting comeback after Slough took an early lead.
This isn’t the first time this season Salisbury have had a high-scoring game, opening their National League South campaign with a 5-0 victory against Hampton & Richmond, with yet another hat-trick, this time from Jaiden Bartolo.
Outside of these games, they have taken a further victory from Billericay Town. The Wiltshire club have left their other four matchdays with two draws, and two losses, escaping a clash with Chelmsford City almost a week ago with a 1-1 draw.
The last week of August saw the Whites suffer two consecutive 2-1 losses against Hemel and current league leaders Maidstone United. The club are currently ninth in the table, despite having one of the highest goal differences in the league.
Last Time Out
The two teams faced off in last year’s National League South campaign, with Ebbsfleet holding the leverage. The Fleet enjoyed a 2-0 victory in last October’s victory, and then settled with a point as the two clubs drew 1-1 in the second face-off of last season.
The victory stemmed from a swift header by newly announced club captain Kwesi Appiah, which landed perfectly in the path of his now vice-captain Jake Hessenthaler. Maxx Manktelow scored the second and sealed the deal for the Fleet in the last few minutes.
Last season’s draw a Salisbury came under scrutiny after the hosts equalised in the game’s final moments from a controversial penalty. It wasn’t the first time that game there’d been a goal from that spot, with Dom Samuel sending the Fleet ahead in the 54th minute after a 12-yard conversion.
Who’s Who?
Saturday brings familiar faces on all fronts as both teams line up against old friends.
Ebbsfleet’s own Will Buse will likely start in Saturday’s fixture against many of his former teammates. He won Player of the Year for Salisbury’s 2025/26 season before signing for the Fleet. Gbadebo, too, formed part of Salisbury’s back line last season (pictured).
Nathan Odokonyero makes a temporary return to Stonebridge Road. The forward was an addition to Ebbsfleet’s 2023/24 squad and remained until the end of the 204/25 season, spending time during this period on loan to Tonbridge. as well as on the sidelines with injury. He completed half a season at Worthing, before signing for the Whites last January. He has made a strong start this season, scoring five goals in the opening seven games.
The Manager
Brian Dutton enters his fifth season managing Salisbury, where he once earned two promotions playing as club captain. His managerial career has been similarly successful for both himself and the club, with Dutton leading the club into the National League South during his first full season as manager in the 2023/24 campaign. Starting his coaching career with Bristol Rovers’ U23s, he eventually joined Walsall as assistant manager in May 2019, before becoming head coach in February 2021. He was appointed first-team manger for Salisbury in October 2022, and has remained in this position since.
The Referee
Jonathon Wilks from Sussex is in his second season at this level, having been promoted towards the end of the last campaign. This is his first Fleet game, although he was an assistant referee here in our last National League outings. He works for REFSIX, a referee performance app.
