Chris Kinnear said the most important thing about their narrow win over Marine was that they are in the hat for the last 16 of the FA Trophy.

Dover clung on to win against the Northern Premier side 4-3 at Crabble yesterday.

The visitors scored a goal in the last five minutes to set-up a nail-biting finish for a place in the next round of the competition.

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Boss Kinnear said: “We got through and in a week everyone will have forgotten about it. There are a lot of sides not in the last 16. Aldershot lost to someone really low down (East Thurrock) in the last round so you just have to get through somehow.

“They (the players) aren’t happy but they wouldn’t be unless they were performing at their best. We are in the hat. That’s what cup football is about and why it’s such a great thing.”

Manny Parry and Ryan Bird scored in the first half to give the home side a 2-1 lead going into the break. Mitch Pinnock and Mitch Brundle scored in the second half to secure the win.

Dover gave away two penalties and were playing against 10 men for more than 45 minutes.

Kinnear was full of praise for the spirit Marine showed after their 300 mile trip from Merseyside.

He said: “It was not the best but there will be a lot of sides knocked out by lower sides. That’s part and parcel of it. In the past we have lost to lower sides but we got through.

“You can’t knock them. They had that little bit of fire in there belly and had nothing to lose. They were jumping about and throwing themselves on the floor but you have to deal with that.

“If you go all the way to Wembley people will forget about this game and at least we got through.”

Listen to Chris Kinnear speaking after the match below.

Dover are through to the last 16 of the FA Trophy with the draw being made on Monday.

You can listen to the draw live on talkSPORT 2 at 1pm on the Ray Stubbs Show. Dover will be ball number 10 in the draw with the next round scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 3.