Moussa Diarra says competition at Crabble is so strong that players have to be ready to seize their chance when it comes.

Defender Diarra moved to Dover from Barrow during the summer, but has barely made a league start since enjoying a six-game run under previous boss Chris Kinnear in September.
The 28-year-old Frenchman admits he’d love to be playing more regularly but concedes that Dover’s form has been so good of late that it’s difficult to dislodge the players in possession of the shirt.

Diarra, who played in both FA Trophy games last week, against Havant and Harrogate, explained: “At this club it is one of the clubs where there is much competition, at Barrow last year there wasn’t so much competition but here there is, especially since the new manager (Andy Hessenthaler) has come in.

“When I’m on the pitch I give everything, that’s me, I just give everything. Obviously I’m not getting many games at Dover, but it’s football.

"Everyone’s got their opinion, it’s the manager’s opinion, his choice and you have to respect it especially as we have a really good manager.

“The results don’t lie, the lads who have been starting are doing well, playing good, so it’s difficult to go and talk to the manager and say ‘Why am I not playing?’ because the other players deserve to play.

"Me, I just continue to go to training, work hard and when I get a chance make sure I take it.

“Training is important, anything can happen and you have to be ready. I just train hard, give everything to the team every day, work hard and see after that what happens.”

Diarra admitted the FA Trophy defeat to Harrogate was disappointing, but he remains confident about Dover’s league prospects.

He explained: “It was a disappointing result but it’s better it happened today rather than in the league.

“We started sloppy, all of us, and at this level when you start sloppy things go straight against you and that’s what happened.

“They got the pen, they had a few chances, we made a few mistakes but after 10,15 minutes we got in the game and we played much better. We played with more tempo, we pressed, we defended well so there are a lot of positives from the game.”

Of their league survival hopes, he added: “We are confident, you have to believe, in everything you do in life.

“The way we’re working hard, everyone is spot on, it’s all good as long as it stays like this. Team spirit is very good, everyone gets on with everyone, helping each other so it’s really positive.”