Mitch Brundle says Dover will today be out to “burst a bubble” when they take on early National League South frontrunners Ebbsfleet.

Whites are seventh in the league while Ebbsfleet have a perfect record from their first five matches this season and top the table, ahead of the Kent derby at Stonebridge Road.

Dover player-assistant manager Brundle, 27, knows Dennis Kutrieb’s team will be in confident mood but insists Whites are full of confidence themselves.

He said: “It’s time to burst a bubble, isn’t it really for us?

“Five wins out of five and they’ll be up there, so they’ll be really confident. We will have to go there with our game-plan.

“Every game, you want to try and win. You’re not going to win all of them but we are full of confidence, wanting to win and burst their bubble.”

Dover will come into their second match in three days having beaten Hemel Hempstead Town 4-0 at Crabble on Saturday.

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The result saw them keep their second clean-sheet of the campaign although, before the win against Hemel, they had conceded seven in four league fixtures which had been of some concern to some Whites fans.

Brundle, who has been playing in defence so far this season, said: “Because we are conceding goals, you can say [it’s down to] a lack of pace - or anything - but none of the goals have really been through a lack of pace.

“It’s more about [a lack of] organisation which we have been working on.

“Also, standing up while we are defending - we have given away four penalties this season so that’s one thing that we had to make sure we did, defended on our feet and didn’t dangle any legs or commit to too many challenges on the floor, just try and keep them away from goal - show them on the outside mainly. I thought we did that.

“I can understand the criticism after conceding seven goals in four games but, in one of them, there was a clean sheet [when beating Hungerford 1-0].

“It’s definitely not good enough from us but we know that and we are working on it. Hopefully we can only get better throughout the season.”

Alex Green (elbow) is Dover’s only injury absentee, although fellow defender Tyrone Sterling has missed their last two games.

When the teams last met at Stonebridge Road in the Covid-affected 2019/20 season, Whites won 1-0 in December 2019, with both sides having been relegated from the National League since then.