Dover v Yeading

RYMAN League Premier Division leaders Yeading visit the Hoverspeed Stadium on Saturday with the Whites’ need for points getting ever more pressing.

The name Yeading carries bit of an aura at the moment after their live televised FA Cup third clash with Premiership giants Newcastle United in January. The Middlesex club did themselves plenty of credit by holding the ‘Toon’ for 50 minutes before eventually bowing out 2-0.

One Dave Clarke was dubbed "the best player on the pitch" by BBC pundit Alan Hansen and Whites’ midfield faces a big challenge to subdue Clarke, even though the former Dover player is now at the veteran stage of his career.

Yeading captain Clarke is expected to line up alongside Dean Palmer, who was lured away from Dover last month. The main scoring threat will come from striker Dudley ‘DJ’ Campbell, who made a name for himself in the FA Cup run and has netted 15 league goals so far this campaign.

The Ding are hot favourites for promotion to Conference South this season and lie six points clear of second placed Braintree. But they have wobbled of late, gaining only a point in each of their last three games, including last Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to Worthing. Whites, for their part, desperately need a win after drawing their last two games themselves, including last Saturday’s clash with Leyton.

The Yeading clash is sure to draw a good crowd to the Hoverspeed Stadium, with Dover hoping for their biggest gate of the season. The record currently stands at 801, for the Tonbridge game in October.

Whites chairman Jim Parmenter said: "Yeading won’t bring many - they only average about a hundred at home. But we are hoping for 800 to 1,000. 900 would be great and 1,000 would be out of this world."

He added: "I’m more confident that we can stay up now than I was two weeks ago. There are still eight games to go and we could get as many as 53 points, but I think 45 points will be enough.

"We have two home league games coming up after this against struggling sides and a good result against Yeading could really set us up for that push."

Manager Clive Walker’s only injury problem for this vital clash is Craig Wilkins’ long term back problem, but Wilkins is having an injection in the troublesome area. Walker is now looking at the Kent Senior Cup tie with Gravesend & Northfleet on March 22 or the Folkestone clash on Easter Monday to bring back this key player. Wilkins’ goalscoring ability could yet make the difference between survival and relegation.

Midfield battler Tom Hickman is back in the frame for Saturday after serving a one-match suspension and Walker could hand a debut to new signing Bradley Sandeman. Walker said: "Bradley didn’t know a soul when he arrived at the ground on Saturday. We didn’t train on Thursday night because of the weather and he didn’t even know anyone’s name. It would have been unfair to put him in."

Walker added: "I don’t see the point of bringing anyone else in now, unless we get a load of bad injuries. I think we’ve had enough changes this season, don’t you?"

Assistant player-manager Paul Hyde said: "At the moment we’re just taking it game by game. Yeading won’t be relishing the challenge of Dover. It bodes well for us. They are no better than Leyton. They will have Dave Clarke in the middle and we need to suppress him. We know all about him.

"There is no fear factor. Come Saturday we won’t lose."