Dover Athletic started their first Vanarama Conference campaign in 12 years as one of the favourites for relegation, according to plenty away from Crabble.

And, after Whites lost eight of their first 11 games, the writing was seemingly on the wall for boss Chris Kinnear and his side.

But Kinnear and his players refused to buckle and they certainly proved those doubters wrong after they turned their season around in stunning fashion. Whites finished an impressive eighth following the 0-0 draw in the final game at Forest Green Rovers last Saturday.

The straight-talking Kinnear, the Vanarama Conference manager of the month for November, said it had been great to defy the critics.

Kinnear said: “We were written off before the season started and there is no doubt the start we made added some fuel to it.

“Saying that, I’ve said all along that we all knew that our first year back was going to be tough. We have a young squad containing a lot of players who had not played at this level before so it was going to take time for them to find their feet.

“The key was that we didn’t let it (the start to season) get to us. We didn’t sulk or mope around, we kept working hard and moved on with each game we played.

“We only lost twice in the 10 games we played against the teams who rounded out the top five (3-0 against champions Barnet and 1-0 against Grimsby) so that shows how much progress we made.

“You can also throw our 13-game unbeaten league run and our FA Cup and FA Trophy runs into the mix.

“We’ve had a tremendous season and we will be better for the experience next season.”

Although Kinnear was thrilled with the progress his side has made since last August, he couldn’t let go of one thing – seeing his side fail to reach the FA Trophy final.

Whites bowed out in the quarter-finals after losing 2-1 in a replay at Conference South side Bath City.

Kinnear said: “On a personal front, that’s my only regret this season. We should have got there (Wembley).”