Mike Sandmann has offered some “brutally honest” advice to Dover’s young players.

Sandmann, who also still leads Whites’ Academy, is expected to remain as manager
Jake Leberl’s No.2 for their 2024/25 Isthmian Premier season, as Athletic prepare for Step 3 football.

A big chunk of their first-team squad which suffered National League South relegation came through the successful youth system.

While Dover are waiting to see if their rising stars will stay put or try moving to a higher-division club, Sandmann wants them to prioritise playing regular first-team football.

He said: “I speak to a lot of the boys. I’ve been quite brutally honest.

“How many have done enough to stay at this level and start at the level week-in, week-out?

“A lot of the players can push on now. Players have to get numbers - for goals, assists and clean sheets - for the season.

“They have not done it at National League South level but, hopefully, they can start doing that.

“I’ve also told them: ‘Don’t become a trialist in pre-season’. I don’t want them to just
become trialists because they actually need to be playing.

“Sometimes, players get caught up in levels. But if you’re consistently delivering good performances, that will come.

“It’s about playing. That’s my advice.

“Whether they take it or not, that’s up to them. Unfortunately, these days, there’s so many people involved.

“But ultimately, I have got the club’s best interests at heart and I have their best interests at heart, as well.”

If the core of the team do stick together, Sandmann thinks there’s examples of what some close-knit squads have achieved during the 2023/24 campaign they can look to draw inspiration from.

“You just need to look at teams like Worthing and Aveley this year,” he said. “A lot of
their players have been together from levels below.

“It’s about that continuity and consistency. Worthing are in the National League South Play-off Final and, only two years ago, they won Isthmian Premier.

“Aveley got beaten by Maidstone (2-1 in their play-off eliminator). But they went back-to-back in terms of making play-offs.

“If you keep a good core together, who knows where that will take you?”

Despite a second relegation in three years, the 2023/24 season did see three Academy players progress into the first team in forward Archie Hatcher, midfielder Henry Young and defender Matty Holness, who came off the bench in their season-ending 3-1 home defeat to champions Yeovil.

Sandmann, who has recently added first-team midfielder Luke Baptiste to his Academy coaching staff, admitted: “It’s been a really positive year once again.

“Three players have made National League debuts. There’s Youngy, who has
played a lot of games, Hatcher and Matty Holness, who made his debut during the last game of the season.

“Matty has been at Erith & Belvedere and we have had good feedback from them.

“Youngy scored against Chelmsford. He’s only 18, but plays very maturely.

“They’re only going to get better.”

Indeed, Hatcher has this week started a two-week trial with Championship club Blackburn.

Meanwhile, Sandmann admits his presence around the first-team environment again could benefit the younger faces in the squad but, having had senior managerial experience himself at Leatherhead and Margate, thinks he provides more strings to his bow than just that.

“The club has asked me (to remain as Leberl’s assistant),” he confirmed. “Me and Jake have worked well together.

“We have worked together in the past many years ago.

“A lot of the players are young boys - a lot from the Academy - and sometimes, having a familiar face is helpful for them.

“Certainly, we have a good attitude in the Academy and we want to bring that into the first team, but not just with the Academy boys, I feel I can add value for the whole squad.

“This club has been losing too many games for too long.

“We need the community behind the team. I know lots is going on behind the scenes around that.”

Dover Athletic Community Trust, in conjunction with Dover Athletic, have agreed with the Dover Citadel for the Trust to exclusively use the multi-sport artificial surface at the Citadel site for the next three years with an option to extend for a further two years.

“I hope that this announcement is the start of a long and beneficial relationship,” said
Dover chairman Jim Parmenter.