He may be more recognisable as an actor but Dover Academy captain Bleu Landau wants to show he can mix it with some of the best as a footballer, too.

Landau has helped Dover’s youngsters get to the Third Round of the FA Youth Cup where they will tonight visit Premier League Brighton.

The 17-year-old spent five years on EastEnders and also featured in the film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword but he’s not bad with a ball at his feet, either.

He said: “This is a great opportunity to show that [my footballing ability]. I love doing both.

“I play football, doing what I love, and act at the same time. It’s a dream.

"Other people would love to do something like that.”

Whites’ youngsters have won six games to reach this stage and they are the only non-league Academy left in the competition.

Landau said: “We have never got this far as the Academy.

"I think that boosts morale and shows the hard work is paying off. We just want to get out there and play them.

“It’s a Premier League club. Everyone dreams of playing these big clubs and, now we have got the opportunity, we have got to embrace it.

“It’s incredible. It’s like you’re a professional.

"We’re all just so excited and can’t wait to get out there.”

• Academy manager looks ahead to big FA Youth Cup tie

Dover have scored 31 goals along the way, more than anyone else - 12 of which have been netted by the competition’s leading scorer, Archie Hatcher.

“Archie Hatcher is the top scorer and our hard work is paying off,” said Landau.

“We’re scoring goals, turning teams over and we want to continue that form.”

They have let in just six goals.

That looks like a decent defensive return for a free-scoring side, but Landau said: “We haven’t had as many clean sheets as we would want but we are winning games.”

And as if the prospect of causing a shock wasn’t motivation enough for Dover ahead of the tie, the winners of the Third-Round encounter have learnt they will be away to Manchester City - assuming they get past Blackburn - in the next round.

“That’s massive,” the defender, a West Ham fan, said. “We couldn’t believe it when we saw it!

“In the last 20 minutes when we have to work really hard, I think we’ll have that in the back of our minds.

“It’s a good incentive to go and win. Man City are a massive club.”

The team are led by Academy boss Mike Sandmann, who is also one of Dover’s first-team coaches.

Landau enthused: “He’s quality.

“He’s with the first-team a lot so that shows how much of a good coach he is. That rubs off on the players with how well we are doing.

“He gets us to work hard, on and off the pitch, so credit to him.”

There’s certainly a clear pathway at Dover into the first-team set-up, too, with several young players having earned first-team contracts after being given opportunities.

Landau said: “It’s a good incentive for us to work hard. We know we have got a pathway to the first-team.

“If we continue to work hard, there’s the potential there that could be us.

“It’s a brilliant opportunity. That’s why I came here - to try and push to get into the first-team.

“Seeing what the others, who are enjoying it, have done, I would love to do that as well.”

Landau made his first-team bow for hometown club Sheppey last season in a 2-0 victory at Kennington in the SCEFL Challenge Cup before playing for Canterbury City this term.

“I’m getting some adult football minutes and, hopefully, that’ll help push me on and allow me to be prepared for any chances I get at Dover,” he said.

And having now experienced senior football, Landau has noticed a difference when returning to playing at youth-team level.

“Yeah definitely. Obviously, first-team football is a lot more physical,” he noted.

“You have got to be fitter so, when it comes to playing Academy football, we can really tell the difference.”

Preparing to take on the Seagulls’ youngsters, Landau’s life has taken quite the turn since his time in Albert Square as Dennis Rickman Jr.

Explaining how he got into acting, he said: “I was modelling when I was younger.

“I was in an advert and, through being in and around the modelling, I got casted for King Arthur, and I got [casted into] EastEnders as well.

“It was all quite quick but I was quite lucky with it.”

Of course, that means Landau’s commitments are different to those of many of his team-mates, but he has been well supported by The Abbey School in Faversham, which the Dover Academy work with closely.

He recalled: “I filmed for a Sky series this time last year. I was having time off but they were so good about it.

“They were making sure I got the work done outside of school.

"They didn’t put any pressure on me and were very good with it.”

The Academy match will be available to be live streamed. Details on how to do so will appear on Brighton & Hove Albion's Twitter account ahead of kick-off.

Dover's first-team will now visit Tonbridge this Saturday with Tuesday's original National League South fixture at Longmead called off.