Mitch Brundle will give the “washbag and headphones” brigade a wide berth when it comes to his Dover rebuild.

Brundle wants a team who will roll up their sleeves and fight for the club as he sets about avoiding a repeat of this season’s narrow escape from relegation.

Whites survived in National South on goal difference after a late-season collapse.

Recruitment will be key to hopes of a better 2023/24 for Dover and their 28-year-old boss, who has learned a lot about management since succeeding Andy Hessenthaler in January.

“This generation, this day and age of players, they’re not built like they used to be,” said Brundle.

“You’ve got to be able to get into their minds.

“It’s just this day-and-age footballer. You hear a lot of people talk about it.

“It’s all about the washbags and the headphones and how good my boots and socks look rather than rolling my sleeves up.”

Brundle knows the importance of a good dressing room and is confident the right players are out there.

Money often talks but he’ll do his best to get them in.

“There are players out there who’ve got the right mentality,” said Brundle.

“It depends on where they’ve grown up, where they come from, what their parents are like.

“Your dressing room can win you games before stepping on the pitch.

“I’ve been in dressing rooms like that and that’s what we have to go and get.

“We have to try and get a team that’s going to be a step up before they step on the pitch, people who are going to roll their sleeves up, and then you’ve got to have the ones with a bit of quality and a bit of skill.

“They are out there, it’s just going to be a lot of time recruiting, getting the right personalities, speaking to a lot of managers and players.

“It’s not just a case of saying ‘I like this player, go and get him’ because financially we might not be able to that but it’s a big off-season for me.

“My contacts in football, there’s not many who know more people in football than I do and I speak to a lot of them.

“I’m respected by a lot of them and I’ve got so many close people who are managers at higher levels. I speak to them week in, week out because I’m learning my trade in this.”