Andy Hessenthaler admits it would be "huge moment" for Dover's season if they could move out of the National League's bottom four before Christmas.

Whites travel to Barnet for a televised game on Saturday (kick-off 12.35pm) knowing that victory could lift them out of the relegation zone for the first time since August.

Such a possibility would have seemed unthinkable a month ago, but a four-match unbeaten run – including three wins – has breathed fresh life into Dover's survival fight.

Hessenthaler says getting out of the drop zone would give Dover a big psychological boost ahead of a busy festive period which includes derbies against fellow strugglers Maidstone, plus an appetising home match with one of his former clubs, Leyton Orient.

The Whites boss explained: "If we could get out of the bottom four this weekend it would absolutely massive for our season and it is something that we will be mentioning to the players during training on Thursday and Friday

"We could have done it when we beat Fylde (a fortnight ago) but Chesterfield had a fantastic result against Salford (winning 2-0).

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't keep an eye on the table and I'm sure the players do too, they're not silly. The crazy thing is that if we can get a win at Barnet we'd only be four points behind them and they're 15th at the moment.

"We're kicking off early so if we could get a good result it might just put a bit of pressure on the others teams who play in the afternoon."

Hessenthaler counts Barnet boss John Still as a friend and he admits he is looking forward to returning to the club where he finished his professional playing career.

He added: "I've been back there already this season with Eastleigh and we won that game (2-1 in August) so I'm hoping that will be the case with Dover.

"They'll be nervous of us because of the run we're on but they're good side and we'll show them every respect.

"They're a good club with good people. It will be a tough game but we've got the bit between our teeth at the moment. If we can't be confident now with the run we're on then when can we?"

Whites have no fresh injury worries but Hessenthaler revealed left-back Josh Debayo continues to be troubled by a thigh issue and the club are now lining up a scan to determine how serious the problem is.

He explained: "Josh still has a problem and we're hoping to get him a scan this week. It would be nice to get him back but his loan runs out on January 5 so if the scan does show that the problem is more long term then we'd probably have to let him go."