The attitudes of Dover’s Academy graduates have been hailed as “quite unbelievable” by boss Jake Leberl.

Whites responded from their defeat to struggling Cray Wanderers with last weekend’s 2-1 Isthmian Premier victory at Cheshunt.

Those who have progressed from Dover’s youth-team system, led by Academy manager and first-team No.2 Mike Sandmann, have been vital behind the leaders’ success this season as midfielder George Wilkinson made his 100th club appearance at Cheshunt.

Leberl said: “It’s been tough for these Academy boys.

“They have been through a heck of a lot, working in the National League and working with different managers. They have been in and out a bit and George has been out on loan previously [at Wingate & Finchley]. But full credit goes to these boys and Mike.

“George got left out the other week and Henry Young isn’t in the squad but the attitude of these boys is quite unbelievable!

“I have never experienced attitudes that are as good as these boys’ ones are.

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“I think it’s going to hold them in really good stead for their careers. To get 100 games at such a young age, that’s a real credit to Wilko.

“He’s such a fantastic player.”

Wilkinson, 20, has been on trial with Stoke. Leberl wants to see some of the club’s current crop follow defender Sean Raggett and midfielder Mitch Pinnock - who he worked with when he was Chris Kinnear’s assistant - in heading into the Football League one day.

“I want the boys to progress,” said Leberl.

“I’d love to see another group of boys in the Football League, like we had here before, with Pinnock and Raggett. We really want to produce that conveyor belt.

“But something the boys have got to understand, they have got to get their games under their belts. Maybe with their agents (advice), some of the boys are trying to get to where they want to be too early.

“But you have got to put in the graft and make the appearances, really.

“In the future, I’d like to see all the boys develop and move on. There’s no reason why they can’t and then, hopefully, we will have the next batch coming through.

“That’s the sort of club we need to be.”

Top scorer George Nikaj and attacking midfielder Luke Baptiste did the damage in the first half at Cheshunt before Whites held on despite the hosts getting a goal back.

“We were really pleased,” reflected Leberl, who played Charlie Naylor for the first time since his club return with Harrison Pont unavailable.

“I felt we did really well throughout the game. We could - and should - have been a few more up by half-time and that, obviously, would have made it a different game.

“That was a little bit disappointing because 2-0 is one of those scorelines, isn’t it? You know they have got nothing to lose but, even in the second half, I thought we did well.

“We had a few more chances but they got one and, when they got one, they could have a gamble-up and throw a few extra bodies forward, which made us sit back a little bit.

“It made it a little bit nervy at the end, but I felt we thoroughly deserved the win.”

Next up for Dover is a Boxing Day match at Danny Searle’s struggling Hastings side (3pm) - with Leberl disappointed the club’s fans have to travel so far for the festive fixture.

He said: “Danny Searle is someone I know reasonably well. He’s been at Ebbsfleet and a lot at higher levels.

“They have had a bit of a mixed bag of results since he has gone in but you don’t get jobs where he has got jobs, unless you know what you’re doing.

“It’s really disappointing for the fans they have got to travel to Hastings. It’s madness!

“A lot of the other clubs are local to each other so why we’re at Hastings is beyond me. But that’s where we find ourselves, isn’t it? It’s a massive pitch.

“It’s a difficult place to go, but we’re unbeaten away and we just want to continue that.”

That’s followed by Saturday’s top-of-the-table home match against Billericay (3pm).

With Whites five points clear, Leberl said: “That has surprised us all a little bit.

“But we were really optimistic after how pre-season went and the squad we had assembled.

“Our disadvantage is massively our budget. With the likes of Billericay and a few of the others, we’re talking, not double, but treble our budget!

“When it comes to these four or five games in a short spell, they’ll be able to freshen it up and have fresh legs whereas some of our boys are going to be playing every other day. That could work both ways.

“I do feel it’ll give the clubs with bigger budgets a big advantage, but we’ll see.”