Dover manager Mitch Brundle is proud he’s managed to bring an air of positivity back to the club.

Whites have endured a torrid couple of campaigns. They only won twice when they were relegated from the National League in 2021/22 and avoided a second straight relegation in April on goal difference.

But Dover have set a platform to be competitive this time, if not necessarily promotion contenders yet, and that has helped remove some of the doom and gloom around Crabble.

“I think the whole club has a real positivity around it,” enthused Brundle.

“Fans are going home happy. Week in, week out, as long as my team is doing everything they can to win, they’ll see that.

“There’s a feel-good factor everywhere. The fans have been fantastic.

“All the staff - from in the kitchen to behind the bar and the media people - we’re all in it together.

“Performance-wise? Yes, I’m very happy.

“But as a whole, the thing I’m most pleased about is people want to come here now.

“That’s the thing I’m most proud of and, hopefully, we can keep it going with our performances.”

They again came from behind through captain James Dunne’s penalty to draw 1-1 at home to Braintree last weekend in National League South.

It moved Dover to five points from four fixtures, having suffered their first defeat 1-0 at Tonbridge last Tuesday.

Midfielder Luke Baptiste won the spot-kick which Dunne converted.

While Brundle is pleased with the performances Baptiste has put in to force his way back into the fold, he still thinks there’s more to come from him.

“He’s had to wait for his chance,” said Brundle.

“He had a great pre-season but, when we went 4-4-2, he likes to go beyond forwards and, if you’re playing 4-4-2 and only have two in midfield, you can get overworked in there.

“He’s had to wait for his chance and I think he’s taken it. On Saturday, he was outstanding, winning first and second balls.

“He won the penalty but he needs to add better numbers to his game.

“Once he starts adding goals and assists, he’ll be a very effective player moving forwards.”

There is another home game for Dover this Saturday as they host Worthing, who are top despite a 2-1 defeat at home to Aveley.

“They won’t go away from their philosophy,” said Brundle, whose side visit Dartford on Monday.

“We’ll watch their games. We won’t just watch that game they’ve lost, we’ll watch the games that they played well in.

“They had started the season very well.

“They’ll have a lot of possession but we’ll, hopefully, find a way that can hurt them in transitions.”

Midfielder Iffy Allen (hamstring) should be fit to return for the double-header while they await the extent of the injury sustained by young striker George Nikaj (knee) at Longmead.

On Allen, Brundle said: “He’s coming back from a slightly tight hamstring.

“He will be available for Saturday, I would think. With Nikaj, we’ll wait for the scan results on his knee. We don’t know until that comes in.

“But overall, we’re getting there.”