Dover travel to Dagenham in good spirits after an encouraging display in the sides’ Boxing Day meeting.

The Daggers edged the televised clash 1-0 at Crabble but were given a game by a Whites side who played almost an hour with 10 men following Josh Passley’s red card.

Indeed, only a missed penalty from Ade Azeez denied them a deserved point.

Dover may be bottom of the National League but have every reason to be confident in the return game against Daryl McMahon’s Daggers on Saturday.

“We were really pleased with the performance on Boxing Day,” said assistant manager Nicky Southall.

“If the penalty goes in you take a hard-fought 1-1 draw against one of the pre-season favourites to get promotion and probably one of the biggest budgets in the league.

“Everyone knows the trials and tribulations we’ve had in terms of budgets and things but we have to get the team prepared and ready and they showed us they’re up for the fight.

“The way we trained on Tuesday, with the intensity, it was probably the best we’ve seen all season.

“It gives us confidence playing Dagenham again.

“The way we played, I’m not sure they expected that kind of performance from us because we’ve not been showing that of late.

"The manager has mentioned that in the press and you saw a totally different team the other day.

"I think the belief is there in the boys and with the way we’ve trained, it’s lifted everyone.

“We’ve just got to put it together and start picking up some wins.”

Dover have extended Millwall defender Harry Ransom’s loan by a further month, while Oscar Gobern is back in contention following a suspension, but Passley is banned after his red card.

Whites are five points from safety but have only played 10 games and the situation can soon change.

“We don’t want to be where we are at the minute but we’ve got six games in hand on some teams,” said Southall.

“If you win two or three you’re getting towards mid-table.

“You can’t really judge the league until everyone’s played the same number of games.

“Because we haven’t been playing games, we’re obviously going to be down there. It’s not ideal.

“Any manager or coach will say you’d rather have points on the board than games in hand but you can’t get points on the board if you aren’t playing.”

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