It’s a big day for Jacob Mensah this weekend as he prepares to captain Dover against his former club.

Whites host Kent rivals Maidstone at Crabble on Saturday (3pm) with Mensah, 23, looking forward to facing his old side.

The centre-back had a spell with the Stones in the National League last season and on Monday night watched their 5-0 FA Cup fifth-round defeat at Championship club Coventry.

“I’m looking forward to Saturday because it’s nice to see a few familiar faces and also it’s just competitive,” said Mensah, released by ex-Stones boss Hakan Hayrettin shortly before George Elokobi took charge.

“It’s football, we both want to win, it’s a local derby and I think both teams are going to put everything out there and leave everything out there on the pitch.

“I watched the FA Cup game. That was just unfortunate but Coventry are a good side and it is a Championship club at the end of the day, even though they beat Ipswich in the last round.

“They’ve had an absolutely amazing cup run and hats off to them because Elokobi is a great guy.

“I know a few of the boys as well but it’s good for him, especially with his first managerial job.

“It’s an unbelievable achievement for someone to do that.

“I enjoyed it at Maidstone.

“It’s unfortunate how things came to an end under the previous manager but that’s football and you’ve got to move on and be as professional as you possibly can.”

Mensah says Dover would be wrong to think Maidstone will suffer a comedown following the end of their FA Cup run.

He expects the Stones to be on their game at Crabble and Dover will prepare accordingly.

“All the boys are switched on,” said Mensah.

“It’s not a case of they’ve had a game a couple of days after we had a game so we get a couple more days’ rest on them.

“We treat every game exactly the same and we’re not going to assume they’re tired or they’ve got a bit of a comedown.

“We’re always going to assume that they’re up for the game so that’s why we need to have a fast start and be at the races.”

Mensah was handed the captain’s armband earlier this month following James Dunne’s departure.

It’s a role he’s embracing as Dover scrap for points to pull off a great escape in National League South.

Jake Leberl’s side are 14 points from safety after their 2-1 defeat at Chippenham last weekend.

Scott Holding put Dover ahead but the Bluebirds fought back in the second half, scoring an 87th-minute winner.

“Nothing’s really been said but I’ve been captain ever since our club captain left,” said Mensah.

“It’s been good and the boys have reacted positively to it.

“All we’re trying to do is crack on and stay in the league and take each game as it comes.

“We just have to keep doing our best, week in, week out.

“I think there’s a few tweaks that we need in both boxes where we need to take our opportunities and defend our box better, and be more dominant in both boxes.

“But I think that will come because we’ve got the players for it and everyone’s positive for every game and looking to put in a good shift.”

Mensah was signed by former Whites boss Mitch Brundle, with Leberl taking over in December.

“We got a couple of good results when Jake came in and I think it’s that new manager bounce that helps,” said Mensah.

“It’s almost like an unwritten rule.

“It’s always good when the new manager comes in and has a fresh set of eyes on things but it has been difficult for him because obviously he hasn’t had time to implement the way he wants to play with a pre-season, but I think he’s been brilliant.”