Jamie Day was full of praise for his Ebbsfleet United squad after they progressed through to the quarter-final of the FA Trophy with a 2-0 win over Braintree Town on a cold night at Stonebridge Road.

Goals from Danny Kedwell and Adam Cunnington gave the Fleet victory, although they were put under a lot of pressure by the visitors with the home defence managing to hold firm throughout.

And with his side now unbeaten in five games against teams from higher divisions this season, the boss revealed he was keen to see the same in league matches too.

Day said: “In the second half they had a lot of free-kicks for about 10-15 minutes and we panicked on the ball when we won it back.

“But on the positive side, we defended really well from those set plays against a big, strong side.

“I thought the only way they were going to score was from a set play, so credit to the boys as they defended really well and threw their bodies on the line. It’s good to get the win.”

He added: “The thing that I’ve learnt from the past couple of years is that when you step up to the Conference, you get a bit more time on the ball.

“When you’re in the division we’re in at the moment, it’s a completely different game.

“It’s high tempo and people trying to win the ball as quickly as they can, so the quality isn’t as good.

“That’s not being disrespectful to anyone in this league, as we’re in it.

“But I think the players we’ve got are suited to playing in the Conference and above, so it’s my job to get us into the Conference.

“We’ve shown we’re more than capable of holding our own, but we’ve got to do it in the league and get into the play-offs.”

After rotating his team around and also naming two youth team players on the bench last night, Karn Miller-Neave and Casey Johnson, Day was also pleased with how well he is getting to know his squad.

He said: “The squad of players we’ve got, I’m confident in every single one of them with what they can and can’t do.

“I think that was shown tonight, as Dean Pooley came in tonight and was first class and Anthony Acheampong didn’t play on Saturday but came in and was solid.

“I’m pleased for the boys, as it’s a group game that gets you through seasons and cups so they’ve all dug in together and showed good team spirit to get a result.”

The Fleet chief added: “The two youngsters have been on the bench every time we’ve won, so we might have to have a look at that!

“I wanted to get Karn on, as it’s nice to get a young lad on and we were in a position to do that, but obviously it didn’t work out.

“We’ve got an academy and it’s there for a reason, so if there are players there doing well, then I’m not frightened to give them game time if needed, or if we need them.

“That’s why you have a set-up like that so while we’ve got good first teamers, we want to get young players through the academy and into our first team as well.”

The Fleet memorably won the FA Trophy in 2008 and now find themselves in the last eight of this year’s competition, with a trip to North Ferriby United awaiting on Saturday.

And with pictures of that Wembley victory on display in numerous areas of the stadium, Day feels the current team may be able to draw some motivation from the club’s past successes. “Hopefully the players can have a look at it and want to be part of it,” the explained.

“Obviously we’re not getting carried away, as we’ve got Saturday’s game, which is going to be a really tough game.

“If we don’t go with the same attitude we did tonight, then we’ll get beaten, simple as that.

“We’ll get them prepared right.

“Any footballer wants to play at Wembley.

“If there’s an opportunity to do so, then that will be in the back of their minds anyway, as I don’t think it happens to many players throughout their whole career - and that’s world class players.

“So we’ll try and get there, but it’s not going to be an easy route.”

Follow us on Twitter @NewsShopperSprt