Andy Hessenthaler believes Dover will gain psychologically from climbing out of the relegation zone following their Boxing Day win over Maidstone.

Four wins and only one defeat in their past six games have lifted Whites up to 20th place, out of the National League bottom four on goal difference.

Whites were four points adrift when Hessenthaler returned as manager in October but he’s got them going and they look well capable of pulling clear of trouble.

League leaders Leyton Orient are next up at Crabble on Saturday but Dover are in a good place mentally after their 3-1 win over struggling Maidstone.

Hessenthaler said: “The players look at the table and hopefully, psychologically, it can give us a real lift before we go into a real tough game against Leyton Orient.

“I think it should do and they should be positive.

“We’ve won our last four home games so I don’t think anybody wants to come to Crabble at the moment.

“It’s going to be an interesting game Saturday, a good atmosphere.

“Leyton Orient are very well supported and they’ve got a good manager (Justin Edinburgh) and I’m looking forward to it.”

Dover were frustrated by Kent rivals Maidstone in the first half, trailing 1-0, but they dominated after the break and would have won by more but for United goalkeeper Ross Worner.

A double change that saw Scott Doe and Alfie Pavey replace Ricky Modeste and Anthony Jeffrey triggered the turnaround and goals from Mitch Brundle, Bedsente Gomis and Inih Effiong secured the points.

Hessenthaler said: “Like I said to the players, every game’s a different challenge.

“Give Maidstone credit, they made it hard for us, to frustrate us, and we made those calls.

“We had a lot of possession but we didn’t find that way of getting through them but that’s why we made the changes we did and credit to the boys, they were excellent second half and got the goals and deserved to win the game.”

Big Effiong’s latest goal was his eighth in 11 league appearances under Hessenthaler and the Whites boss knows what’s behind his resurgence.

He said: “I think we just worked on him in terms of staying down the middle of the pitch because he’s a centre-forward.

“At times, in training and in games I’ve seen him play, he tries to drift wide and we want him down the middle because he’s a threat and we did that and we worked on him on the training ground and he’s getting the rewards.

“To be fair, we nearly took him off because he’s struggling with a bit of a dead leg but we kept him on, he kept going and got his goal and I’m pleased for him.”

Read the match report from Dover's 3-1 win over Maidstone