Following their 2-1 defeat away to Boreham Wood, Ebbsfleet United manager Steve Brown refused to panic over a winless week that has seen two losses and a draw.

After drawing with Whitehawk and losing to Havant & Waterlooville, Brown’s side were looking to get back to winning ways on Saturday but put in a disappointing performance.

The result means the Fleet now sit fourth in the Skrill South table and Brown revealed that, although he is not too concerned about the slump, he is keen to get back to winning ways.

He said: “Obviously we’re not jumping through hoops about the results, that’s for sure, but the fact of the matter is that we’re still very much in fourth place and in the play-offs.

“We’ve only lost two of the last 10 – albeit they have come in the last week – but our form of late has been very, very good.

“It seems to me that everybody loves to hit a panic button that’s not really ready to be pressed.

“I’m quite happy to be sat in the play-offs, although I’d like to get back to winning ways as soon as possible.

“When someone sees a team in the top five lose two on the trot, there’s a tendency to think that there’s some kind of panic button that needs to be pressed, but that’s not always the case.

“Look at Bromley, who lost three or four on the trot but they’ve now bounced back with a couple of victories, which is the only way to silence people.

“We’ve lost two on the trot and all we can do is look forward to Gosport on Thursday in order to turn the results around and stop the losses.”

Against Boreham Wood, the Fleet were 2-0 down until a late Billy Bricknell consolation goal and, although he felt his side deserved a penalty, Brown admitted the performance was not good enough.

“The game didn’t go according to plan and I have to give credit to Boreham Wood for their start”, Brown said.

“I thought they were terrific in the first half and really pressed us well, with a goal as their reward.

“From that point onwards, we were chasing the game somewhat, which is always a poor position to be in, as the mentality of the team changes a little bit.”

He added: “There was an absolutely cast iron penalty.

“Even Ian Allinson, the Boreham Wood manager, came up and said refs can make terrible decisions at times, so it’s nice for an opposing manager to admit that they could have conceded a penalty but unfortunately Ian Allinson doesn’t make the decisions, the referee does.

“It would have got us back in the game, however lucky it would have been in regard to the fact we didn’t start well, and games can hinge on things like that.

“Unfortunately, it’s another decision that’s not gone our way, which seems to be the case at the moment, as we should have had two penalties at Whitehawk last Saturday and the free-kick that lead to Havant’s goal on Monday wasn’t a free-kick.”

The Fleet now head to Gosport Borough on Thursday night, hoping to turn their form around, before hosting Tonbridge Angels on Saturday