by Kevin Redsull

Manager Chris Kinnear has reassured Dover Athletic fans that midfielder Daryl McMahon still remains part of his plans at Crabble.

Kinnear admitted he was unhappy that the midfielder was unavailable for Whites’ two Easter weekend matches because he was working abroad but the Dover boss insisted: "He will be training as usual on Thursday and we’ll see how he goes but he should OK for Saturday."

Dover are at home to Basingstoke this weekend before travelling to Wiltshire on Tuesday for the re-arranged game with second-placed Salisbury City and McMahon’s continued absence would have raised questions about the future of the Irishman.

But the manager (pictured) said: "Daryl’s full-time job is as a youth coach at Dagenham & Redbridge and a few months ago, when Nicky Forster was still in charge (at Dover), he asked if he could miss the Easter games because his youth team were playing in a tournament in Holland and Nicky agreed.

"I only found out about it fairly recently and I wasn’t happy about it but that’s why he wasn’t around at the weekend. There’s no other reason."

And Kinnear was understandably keen not to let the McMahon issue overshadow the excellent 3-0 victory at Chelmsford on Easter Monday, which has left a play-off place within Whites’ grasp.

With Danny Webb marking his recall with a solid display in central defence and skipper Ian Simpemba now available again after completing his five-match suspension, it means Kinnear has a selection problem this weekend for the game against a Basingstoke side, whose six-game unbeaten run came to an end with last Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat by Eastleigh.