Dover will be aiming to address their recent poor record at the IronmongeryDirect Stadium when they head to relegation-haunted Braintree Town on Saturday.

Boss Chris Kinnear’s side are yet to register a point or a goal at the venue in their two games there since winning promotion back to non league’s top-flight.

But Kinnear is unconcerned by his side’s recent results at Braintree, who will start the game just two points above the drop zone.

He said: “Someone told me they have been a bit of a bogey side for Dover, but it is down to us really.

“It’s going to be difficult with their pitch and what they have got, but all we can do is take it as a game we want three points from.”

Dover are currently sixth in the table, two points behind Aldershot in fifth, but with a game in hand.

BRAINTREE’S RECENT FORM

Known as the Iron, Braintree were beaten by relegation rivals York City 3-0 on Saturday – their sixth defeat in seven league matches.

Jon Parkin, Asa Hall and Amari Morgan Smith scored the goals for the home side.

Braintree’s last victory was back in February, a 5-0 win at Bromley.

LAST MEETING

22/10/16 Dover Athletic 6-1 Braintree Town

Ricky Miller (pictured above in action against Braintree) scored four times as Athletic equalled their biggest winning margin since returning to the National League.

Sam Matthew’s sublime curled finish stunned the home fans early on, but Miller’s first half hat-trick, along with strikes from Aswad Thomas and Jack Parkinson, gave Dover a resounding 5-1 lead at the break.

Miller’s free-kick shortly after half time completed the rout.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

13/10/15: Braintree Town 1-0 Dover Athletic

15/09/15: Dover Athletic 0-0 Braintree Town

11/11/14: Dover Athletic 1-0 Braintree Town

12/08/14: Braintree Town 3-0 Dover Athletic

HITMEN

Whites’ top scorer in the league this season is Ricky Miller with 34 following his double in the win against Gateshead at Crabble last Saturday.

Moses Emmanuel and Ross Lafayette both have 11.

Braintree’s leading man is Michael Cheek with 17.

DOVER TEAM NEWS

First team coach Mark Newson said on Wednesday that James Hurst (thigh), who missed the win against Gateshead, is the only injury doubt.

Newson gave Hurst a 50/50 chance of being available.

DOVER COLOURS

For Dover fans wanting to show their colours at Braintree by wearing the matching shirts as the players,  captain Jamie Grimes and his team-mates will be wearing their blue shirts.

COVERAGE:

The game starts at 3pm but if you are unable to make the trip, we will have live updates on Twitter – @DAFCLiveText – follow us and get all the news as it happens!

Coverage starts from 2pm.

SATURDAY’S OTHER NATIONAL LEAGUE FIXTURES

Aldershot Town v Torquay United

Barrow v Woking

Bromley v Wrexham

Chester v York City

Eastleigh v Lincoln City

Gateshead v Maidstone United

Guiseley v Forest Green Rovers

Macclesfield Town v Dagenham & Redbridge

North Ferriby United v Boreham Wood

Sutton United v Southport

Tranmere Rovers v Solihull Moors

AWAY TRAVEL

There will be a Supporters Club coach making the trip to Braintree on Saturday and it’s not too late to book your place on it.

It leaves Crabble at 11am and the cost is as follows:

Adults Members £15, Adult Non Members £30 and accompanied child (under 16) £5.

Please call or text Andy on 0793 4300335 to book your seat.

Please note that you are now required to pay for your seat in advance in cash or by cheque or via bank transfer.

Visit http://www.dasc.co.uk/ for all the details.

A massive game is worthy of a massive crowd and that’s shaping up to be the case when boss Chris Kinnear’s side host  play-off chasing rivals Gateshead at Crabble on Saturday.

The club is having another Family Day, and has given free tickets to all 52 Dover district schools to allow students to attend the game.

As of Friday, the club is currently expecting 2500 kids and parents to be here, so that should make for a cracking atmosphere.

There was 3,018 in attendance at Crabble when the club did the same thing for the opening of the Family Stand ahead of the Guiseley game last November.

Whites have a game in hand on the three teams above them, today’s opponents, Barrow and Aldershot, so need the to make the most of that and hopefully there will be a massive crowd in attendance to cheer the team to victory on Saturday.

The Heed are unbeaten in 10 games and Whites will be one point behind the Tynesiders at kick-off.

Dover first team coach Mark Newson is backing the players to bounce back following the loss at Tranmere on Saturday.

He said: “These are the types of games the lads tend to rise to the occasion.

“They demonstrated that earlier in the season by beating Lincoln and Forest Green here.  Gateshead are in great form, but we have the character to get a result.

“We are really pleased our destiny is in our own hands with seven games to go.”

GATESHEAD’S RECENT FORM

The Heed are currently seventh on the National League ladder after drawing 1-1 at Eastleigh last Saturday.

Gus Mafuta  gave Gateshead the lead in the 57th minute with his first goal of the season, but the lead lasted for just two minutes after former Dover loanee Ayo Obileye equalised from close range.

The draw extended Gateshead’s unbeaten league run to 10 games.

They last tasted defeat when Torquay beat them 3-1 at Plainmoor on 28th January.

08/10/16: Gateshead 4-2 Dover Athletic

Jack Parkinson put Dover ahead 10 minutes from half-time before the Heed replied twice before the break through Wes York and Sam Jones.

Paddy McLaughlin added a third three minutes into the second half before Ricky Miller threw Dover a lifeline with his 10th goal of the season.

But the joy proved to be short-lived when Jones,  who has since joined League 2 Grimsby Town, grabbed his second of the game two minutes later.

It was Dover’s first defeat against Gateshead since their return to the National League.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS:

29/11/14: Gateshead 1-2 Dover Athletic

21/03/15: Dover Athletic 1-0 Gateshead

03/10/15: Gateshead 2-3 Dover Athletic

13/02/16: Dover Athletic 4-0 Gateshead

HITMEN

Whites’ leading scorer in the National League this season is Ricky Miller with 32 after his double at Guiseley last Saturday.

Moses Emmanuel and Ross Lafayette both have 11 league goals.

Gateshead’s leading man with 18 league goals is Danny Johnson

DOVER TEAM NEWS

Boss Chris Kinnear hopes to have a fully-fit squad available for game despite James Hurst (thigh) and goalkeeper Mitch Walker (groin) both picking up knocks at Tranmere on Tuesday.

Bondz N’Gala is back in contention having missed the last three games for personal reasons.

COVERAGE

The game starts at 3pm but if you are unable to make it, we will have live updates on Twitter – @DAFCLiveText – follow us and get all the news as it happens!

MATCH SPONSOR

Nick Cunningham Plumbing and Heating Engineers, based in Sandwich, are sponsors for the Gateshead match.

We thank Nick, a huge Dover fan, for his continued support of the club.

SATURDAY’S OTHER NATIONAL LEAGUE FIXTURES

Wrexham v Tranmere (12.15pm)

Boreham Wood v Macclesfield

Dag & Red v Eastleigh

Forest Green v North Ferriby

Lincoln v Bromley

Maidstone v Barrow

Solihull v Aldershot

Southport v Guiseley

Torquay v Chester

Woking v Sutton

York v Braintree

AWAY TRAVEL

There will be a Supporters Club coach heading to Braintree next Saturday.

It leaves Crabble at 11am and the cost is as follows:

Adults Members £15, Adult Non Members £30 and accompanied child (under 16) £5

Please call or text Andy Fisher on 0793 4300335 to book your seat or see him in the Centre Spot before or after the game on Saturday.

Please note that you are now required to pay for your seat in advance in cash or by cheque or via bank transfer.

Visit http://www.dasc.co.uk/ for all the details.

After two wins from two, Dover will be looking to carry that momentum into Tuesday’s clash at promotion chasing rivals Tranmere Rovers.

Whites are currently seventh, four places and seven points behind the Prenton Park side after Saturday’s 4-0 win at Guiseley, but boss Chris Kinnear was keeping it all in perspective.

He said: “We will go there with a lot of confidence after Saturday, there is no doubt about that, but we cannot afford to start thinking about what might be – that can hurt you.

“We’ve got to make sure that we are focused on the job at hand and that’s getting a result at Tranmere and we all know that’s not going to be easy.

“We’ve got to match whatever they throw at us and make sure we are better than that.”

TRANMERE’S RECENT FORM

Tranmere are currently third on the National League ladder, two points behind table-topping Lincoln City after the 1-0 win against visiting Braintree Town on Saturday.

Andy Cook scored the only goal of the game 10 minutes into the second half.

Jeff Hughes missed a chance to double the lead after having his penalty saved.

Their previous two league games were on the road and finished with a 4-1 win at North Ferriby and a 0-0 draw at Torquay.

LAST MEETING

19/11/16: Dover Athletic 1-4 Tranmere Rovers.

Aswad Thomas’ headed Dover in front but Andy Cook equalised not long from half-time.

Cook struck again after the break before an own goal from goalkeeper Mitch Walker and a Ben Tollitt strike condemned Dover to a first ever defeat against Tranmere.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

31/10/15: Tranmere Rovers 0-1 Dover Athletic
12/3/16: Dover Athletic 0-0 Tranmere Rovers

HITMEN

Whites’ leading scorer in the National League this season is Miller with 32 after his double at Guiseley.

Moses Emmanuel and Ross Lafayette have both scored 11 each in the league.

Tranmere’s leading man with 21 league goals is Andy Cook.

DOVER TEAM NEWS

Dover will again be without defender Aswad Thomas as he serves the second game of his suspension following his red card against Bromley last Saturday.

Thomas’ fellow defender Sam Magri will be available after missing the win at Guiseley as he was on international duty for Malta.

Magri played all 90 minutes as Malta lost their FIFA World Cup Group F qualifier against Slovakia 3-1 on Sunday.

DOVER COLOURS

For Dover fans wanting to show their colours at Tranmere by wearing the matching shirts as the players, captain Jamie Grimes and his team-mates will be wearing their yellow shirts.

COVERAGE

The game starts at 7.45pm but if you are unable to make the trip north, we will have live updates on Twitter – @DAFCLiveText – follow us and get all the news as it happens!

TUESDAY’S OTHER NATIONAL LEAGUE FIXTURES

Chester v Barrow

Macclesfield Town v York City

Solihull Moors v Torquay United

Sutton United v Lincoln City

AWAY TRAVEL

There will be a Supporters Club coach heading to Tranmere and it’s not too late to get on it.

It leaves Crabble at 12.15pm and thanks to a generous donation by Nick Cunningham, prices on it have been considerably reduced.

Adults Members £15, Adult Non Members £30 and accompanied child (under 16) £10.

Please call or text Andy Fisher on 0793 4300335 to book your seat.

Please note that you are now required to pay for your seat in advance in cash or by cheque or via bank transfer.

Visit http://www.dasc.co.uk/ for all the details. Continue reading “PREVIEW: TRANMERE ROVERS V WHITES” →