Mansfield had trailed 2-0 at the break following a poor first-half display, but rallied with a solid second-half performance to earn a much-deserved share of the spoils.

• Photo slideshow: Ebbsfleet 2 Mansfield Town 2

And speaking after the final whistle McEwan told Chad the impressive point now gave Stags something solid to build upon.

"We are delighted to have got a point. We were 2-0 down at half-time and to come back like that away from home against an established team is something we will take," he said.

• Goalscorere admits his strike was a fluke

"The first goal was unlucky, on another day the ball would have rebounded away from goal. We showed great character and resilience to come back as we did.

"I was confident that we would get something out of the game if we stayed positive.

"We have only been together for a few weeks and are gelling together well. I was very excited when we got the equaliser."

He also praised his side's fighting spirit and thanked the band of Stags fans for their impressive support.

Said McEwan: "We are a new team and are trying to build. It is very early days at the moment and we need to be patient.

"We came here to win, but this is a good point and we would definitely have taken the draw at half-time.

"The games are going to be tough and there will be lots of highs and lows for fans and players, but we are hopeful we have the right set of players here.

"We had an excellent away following today, the supporters were excellent and we want to thank them for that."

Ebbsfleet boss Liam Daish said: "We had a lot of chances at 2-1 to win the game. They got back into it through a freak goal really, you won't see another like that all season."