Dover skipper Jamie Grimes is confident Whites can spring a surprise and finish the job against Cambridge, particularly now he has gotten to grips with United frontman Uche Ikpeazu.

The hulking 6’3” striker, who came through the ranks at Watford, possesses a rare blend of pace, power and physical strength which ensured Grimes was in for a torrid time at the Cambs Glass Stadium on Saturday.

The pair will likely clash again in the replay, which is being shown live on BT Sport on Thursday, November 17, kick-off 7.45pm.

Grimes admitted: “It was a battle in quite tough conditions. It was very windy and kept blowing around but in the end I felt we deserved a draw.

"We’re obviously happy and confident if we take them back to the Crabble and get the fans behind us I think we can come away with a win.”

Of 21-year-old Ikpeazu, who had loan spells at Port Vale and Blackpool last season and who joined United in the summer after a trial at Norwich, Grimes admitted: “He is a real handful. I’ve played against Bayo Akinfenwa and he was up there with him in terms of strength, but he could run as well.

“It was a very tough test and a tough afternoon for me but hopefully that’s something next time I can improve on my performance and go again - we’ve got another chance.”

He added: “The way we play, the gaffer wants me to get infront of my striker all the time - you have to get one v one. It was playing into (Ikpeazu's) hands because as soon as he got his arm on me I couldn’t move so we spoke about it at half-time and we said 'stay behind him, let him play, as long as he doesn’t get in behind us.'

“That’s what we did and it seemed to work a lot better, he didn’t seem to get as much joy.”

Grimes claimed Ikpeazu’s quality was the only thing that separates Dover from their League 2 opponents, adding: “They were very strong, very organised, but if we want to be doing anything this season we have got to be competing and beating teams like that.

“We were saying in the changing room, you’ll never play against anyone like the big lad in the National League. Without him they lose their foothold in the game and it’s pretty much like a league game for us. He was the difference between the two teams really."

With the carrot of a potential home tie against Coventry City in the Second Round,should they win next week's replay, Grimes added: "We’ve definitely got a chance in the replay. You could see in the second half, with the wind, we got in behind them a bit more.

"We’ll get them to the Crabble where we know we’re strong and we’ll put the pressure on and hopefully get some chances.”