Craig Stone has already tasted winning promotion to the Conference Premier with Ebbsfleet United and now he wants to lead Dover to similar success.

The 24-year-old midfielder signed for Whites in May after nearly five years with Ebbsfleet and this week manager Chris Kinnear confirmed that Stone would be his captain for the forthcoming season.

Stone said: “The reason I signed for Dover was to help them get into the Conference Premier. I was at Ebbsfleet when we won promotion a couple of years ago and, in my eyes, the Conference Premier is where Dover should be because they are a big non-league club.”

Although Stone filled in as skipper for Ebbsfleet several times towards the end of last season, when the Fleet were relegated back to Conference South, this will be the first time he has been handed the armband on a permanent basis and he said: “I’m over the moon about it.

“As a new signing, my main focus has been on settling in well and making an impact with Chris and Jake (Leberl) and with the players and fans. But being given the captaincy shows that the manager feels I have the capability to do that role.”

Kinnear said: “Craig is still a young lad but he’s already got a lot of experience. I remember watching him play for Gillingham as a teenager several years ago and he’s already got the respect of the other players, which is important as captain.”