Giancarlo Gallifuoco says Dover’s players remain unshaken in their belief that Whites will make the play-offs.

Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Torquay ended a three-match winless run for Dover but defender Gallifuoco says the squad never lost faith in each other.

The 24-year-old Australian said: “I think that’s the benefit of having a young team, sometimes the naivety can keep you so positive. The positive thing about having a young team is that we are sensationally close and we believe we can achieve everything.

“Because we’re a young team, an ambitious team, we take it game by game, 90 minutes by 90 minutes and you just give everything as if this is the last game of football you’re going to play.

"If we do that, I back my team with the talent we’ve got that we can get all the points we need.

“Chris (boss Chris Kinnear) always pushes us to be the best we can be and all credit to the lads because it’s coming through on the pitch.”

Gallifuoco was a key player in Saturday’s game – it was his shot which was handled to give Whites the decisive penalty – but he admitted he had mixed feelings after Dover’s win which pushed his former club closer to relegation.

He said: “It’s a bit bitter sweet for me. In an ideal world I don’t want to take three points from a great club that’s fighting relegation but I definitely want the three points because I want to make the play-offs.

“It was a game where we stuck perfectly to our plan. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t fantastic football, we knew what we were supposed to do, we did it and everything worked out for us and we finished the game off.

“Both teams have strong defences and it shows when a game is decided by one penalty but when we got to the changing room. we were happy.

“They weren’t to be taken lightly and we gave them a lot of respect.”