Dover’s strong start to the season is no surprise to Maidstone boss Jay Saunders.

Whites were tipped to struggle after losing virtually their whole side in the summer, including 40-goal striker Ricky Miller.

But they go into Christmas firmly in National League title contention and host Maidstone on Boxing Day (3pm), with the return at the Gallagher on New Year’s Day.

Saunders played under Whites manager Chris Kinnear at Margate and fully expected his old boss to produce another winning side.

He said: “When Chris took Ryan Bird there and people like that, you know they’re going to do all right. Chris has got his system of playing and it works well for him.

“They’re a big, powerful side, they’ve got good pace around it with a blend of youth and a bit of experience here and there.

“They’ve done ever so well and it doesn’t surprise me. People are going to expect them to struggle because they lost Ricky Miller, who was such a big part of it, but on the flipside they’re better defensively than last season and the goals are spread out a little bit more.

“They’re a good side, they’re doing well and you’ve got to give Chris credit for that.”

Dover are notoriously tricky to play against but their approach has its critics, wrongly in Saunders’ view.

He said: “When I played under Chris, our two centre-halves used to man-mark but now pretty much their whole side man-mark. It’s a dificult system to play against but it’s effective and you’ve got to give Chris, Jake Leberl (No.2) and Mark Newson (coach) credit.

“People can say it’s this or it’s that but they win games of football and that’s what it’s about.”

With the National League’s big-hitters slow to get going, Saunders believes this could be Dover’s year to realise their Football League ambitions.

He said: “As Jim (Parmenter, chairman) has said in the past, the crowds probably need to go up a little bit but they’ve got the ambition and a good chance this year.

“For the likes of Sutton, Dover and others, it’s the year you could maybe nick it. At the moment it’s anyone’s league and I’m sure the likes of Dover and Sutton fancy themselves.”