EBBSFLEET United manager Liam Daish praised his players’ efforts in defeat following his side’s 3-1 reverse at home to Luton Town yesterday.

Luton scored early goals through Stuart Fleetwood and Scott Rendell, meaning the Fleet faced an uphill struggle to gain anything from the encounter.

However, the hosts managed to match their opponents for large portions of the game and at 2-0 down, were denied a penalty claim which may have given them a route back into the contest.

With Luton one of the early favourites for promotion this season, Daish was pleased with some aspects of his side’s play.

He said: “I’m proud of the players, as I thought they gave it everything from start to finish.

“I told them that now isn’t the time to go into too much detail with the two goals that we conceded early, which were a kick in the proverbials.

“We reacted well and never stopped believing, we just didn’t get a break at the right time.

“They’ve got great options up front in their players, all of them are goal scorers and that was a difference as I thought we equalled them everywhere else.

“We were competitive in all areas and we showed a willingness with our work rate.

“I was happy with that, you can’t ask for any more.”

Daish added: “When we beat Luton 3-2 a few years ago at Kenilworth Road, they came back here and we went 2-0 down early on and they ended up with six, so that was at the back of the mind.

“To be fair to the lads, though, we kept our discipline and kept going.

“The game was a lot closer than 3-1.”

Ebbsfleet had strong claims for a penalty turned down when Moses Ashikodi appeared to be fouled, a decision Daish felt went against his side.

He said: “The referee didn’t give the penalty, which I felt was clear.

“To me, if it’s not a penalty, then it’s a booking for a dive.

“It’s one or the other and he’s not given either.

“That was the break.

“I know we’d have had to score it, but if we’d had the penalty then things could have been a little different.”

Daish revealed he was pleased with the way his team played in the second half, which saw a second goal for Fleetwood before Nathan Elder netted the Fleet’s consolation late on.

He said: “There’s a little bit of quality that Luton have got in Grey, Fleetwood, Shaw and Rendell.

“Some league clubs haven’t got that.

“It took us a little while to get to grips with them, but in the second half we did brilliantly.

“Patrick Ada stayed with Rendell, meaning he was moving out of the danger areas in order to get away from Patrick.

“We kept going and battled for everything. We chased back and tackled.

“When we lost the ball, we went back to try and win it again.

“Even at the end, we were 3-0 down but we didn’t try to keep it tight and sit in our comfort zone.

“Craig Stone got forward and put a great ball in that meant we got a goal.

“We just needed that break a little bit earlier.”

After a nightmare journey to Hereford on Saturday and a 4-2 defeat, Ebbsfleet have endured a frustrating 48 hours, but Daish is keen to take positives out of the games and move on.

He said: “It’s been a tough weekend, and not just with our results, but with everything.

“The trip to Hereford wasn’t the best and neither was the result, but I’m taking positives out of this today.

“I can’t ask for any more from the players, they worked extremely hard and they set a benchmark on how we set up and give ourselves a platform going forward.”

Next up for the Fleet is Lincoln City away on Saturday.

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