Dover boss Chris Kinnear is confident his side can challenge for the Conference South title alongside the division’s big spenders.

Bookmakers have the Whites fourth-favourites to go up automatically, behind Eastleigh, Sutton United and Kent rivals Ebbsfleet United.

Eastleigh splashed out to land former Luton striker Stuart Fleetwood last week and Kinnear is aware of the challenge facing his side.

He said: “The teams to beat will be Eastleigh, with the players they’re signing and the money they’re putting out there and Sutton are doing the same.

"Ebbsfleet are putting a lot of money out there but whether they’ll be the team to beat, I don’t know. Havant & Waterlooville will probably be half-decent too.

“My expectation is that I want to be right at the top, there’s no doubt about that. Whether we can or not is another matter but it’s like when we came in (last season) after such a bad run – we’ll just try to win every game.”

Kinnear, gearing up for his first full season in charge of Dover since 1994/95, tempered his ambition with a dash of realism.

He added: “Most teams will bring in two or three players but we’ve brought in loads. The key to winning things is knowing the team and knowing the players and that takes time.”