Dover Athletic players return for pre-season next week with the management team purposely leaving room for manoeuvre in their squad rebuild.

It’s a summer reset for Dover following relegation into the Isthmian League and assistant boss Mike Sandmann believes the club are now catching the attention of players who can see the potential for better times ahead.

Sandmann said: “We have had so many boys interested in coming in over pre-season, we are constantly getting calls from agents and people who want to be part of the club.

“I think what people are starting to recognise is that Dover are a club that have been on the decline for the last few years and I think it is almost like a rebuild start-again project and people want to be part of it.

“There’s a lot going on behind the scenes. It is our job to build this club back up and I think players are seeing that, some of them are excited to be part of that.

“We hit rock bottom and the only way is up.

“Dover are still a massive club and with some of the stadiums and places we are going to go to [this season] you can recognise how big a club like Dover still are. Players recognise that actually the end of last year was the end of the decline. It is about stabilising and rebuilding.

“What we don’t want to do is completely fill our squad and then if there are lads who become available we won’t be able to do anything.

“As much as we want to get a core together, and I think we have, we also need to be a bit patient and make sure that we are bringing the right players in at the right time.

“We are happy with the boys we have signed so far, the ones who have returned, and we will have one or two more in the next few weeks.

“[We wanted to] make sure we were solid defensively and you can see with the signings we have already made that we are going to be that, that’s what we hope to be, and now it is about adding to that.

“It started off as a players’ market where players were demanding X, Y and Z and you’re chasing players but now I think it will get to the stage where it turns the corner and becomes a clubs’ market where players are starting to chase us.

“There will be lads on trial in the National League, Step 2 and 1, and if it doesn’t work out for them then they will become available. As much as we want to put a squad together early, we are still in June, there is plenty of time.”

Several players have opted to leave this summer including Bailey Akehurst, who has joined league rivals Chatham.

John Oyenuga and Jacob Mensah have also left while young midfielder Freddie Oliver has decided to take up a football scholarship at Tiffin University in Ohio, USA.

He goes with the club’s blessing with Sandmann saying: “He has a fantastic opportunity in America and it is something he has always wanted to do.

“We send him off with our best wishes and he will probably spend pre-season with us to keep himself fit. He knows if it doesn’t work out, he enjoyed his time with us and he would be welcomed back.”

Midfielder Luke Baptiste has agreed to stay while newcomers include former Whitehawk defensive duo Joe Tennent and Luca Cocoracchio.

Forward players will be coming, too, with Sandmann adding: “The forwards are always the ones who become available and sign late on because any decent forward player is going to have a lot of interest at a lot of clubs.

“Lads might be on trial hoping to play as high as they can and it might not work out for them, so you have to be a little bit patient. If we sign all the players available to us now then there would be no budget left for the start of pre-season when players do become available.”