Dover boss Martin Hayes hopes his side can learn lessons from their first defeat of the season and get back on track with a tough trip to Braintree.

Whites suffered a surprise 1-0 loss to Eastleigh on Saturday to bring an end to a six-game unbeaten run, including three straight wins, which had established them in Blue Square Bet South’s top three.

Hayes admitted: "All the talk of how good our start has been has come back to bite us on the backside. That’s football.

"Everyone should know that sometimes you win games you shouldn’t and sometimes you lose some you should win."

He added: "Saturday was frustrating. The first half we were poor, we looked sluggish and our passing was off. We just couldn’t get out of second gear.

"I can’t put my finger on why, maybe it was tiredness catching up with us, or maybe the players thought it would be easier to win a home game than it is away.

"They have to learn that sides are going to come and try to do a job on us to take a point. We need to get around that."

Whites look to get back on track against second-placed Braintree, who have won all three of their home games thus far.

Joe Tabiri returns from suspension and could go straight into the midfield for the trip to Essex.