DOVER Athletic open their pre-season friendly campaign at Hythe on Saturday (3pm) with first team coach Richard Langley admitting that he has "got a point to prove".

Langley, in joint managerial charge last season with Mark Patterson, has now been handed sole control following 'Patto's' departure to Maidstone United and is likely to come under early fire from some Whites' fans if Dover get off to a poor start in their new Ryman League habitat.

Dover's failure to qualify for the Conference Two South represented another backward step for the club, with Langley acknowledging: "As far as I am concerned, I have had six months as Dover Athletic first team manager/coach, and I have now got a blemish on my CV because it says 'relegation' alongside that bit.

"But if you look at my CV before that, albeit with our youth and reserve teams, it's very good and so I have got a point to prove, if you like."

Several of the young players who helped Langley to enjoy success with Whites' junior sides will be first-team squad members this season, and he added: "I feel more comfortable this season because I am dealing with lads I know well, and I think they respect me.

"With hindsight, one of the mistakes I probably made last season was that I didn't stamp my personality on the side right from the start. But it's very difficult when you take over a team midway through the season because it's not your team and it's not your group of players.

"However, lots of those players have since left the club, some for financial and some for footballing reasons, and I have worked with the majority of those who are left for the past three or four years."

* Dover open their Ryman League Premier Division season with a home game against Slough Town on Saturday, August 14.