*BS*In a season which has so far fallen below expectations, one positive is the form of Mitch Walker. The goalkeeper, who turns 22 next week, has put in a string of good performances but the current points tally is something he is disappointed with*BF*:

“I’m not sure where it’s gone wrong – it’s hard to put my finger on anything in particular. A lack of goals obviously goes some way to explaining it, but it’s not like we’re not creating any chances – I’d be more concerned if that was the case. I think it’s all down to confidence.

“Once our strikers start finding the net, I’m sure they’ll start scoring regularly. If you look at the quality we have up front, they’re all capable players and all able to score a lot of goals. Obviously our recent form has been disappointing but we’ve still got 35 games left and we will turn it around.”

The club’s historical troubles at Crabble have been evident again this season, with three consecutive home defeats now recorded in the Skrill South. Walker sees a real difference between the way the side play at home and away: “When teams come to our ground, they often sit back and try to hit us on the break. That doesn’t happen so much away from home.

“I think it’s a combination of frustration and not getting ahead in games, and sometimes a lack of concentration, that sees us undone late on. In all three games (against Concord, Hayes & Yeading and Weston) I think we should’ve got at least a point – probably all three – in each.

*Q1*“When things aren’t going to plan at home, we need to stay calm and keep passing the ball like we can instead of hitting it long.”

Walker’s most impressive performance this season came in the 1-0 win away at Whitehawk, although he confesses it wasn’t a great team performance: “That game is probably the worst we’ve played all season. We nicked a penalty, but spent most of the second half defending. It shouldn’t be like that – we’re a big club in this league and, away to a newly-promoted side, we shouldn’t be coming away feeling we were lucky to win.”

The 6ft 3in stopper has saved his last five penalties for the club, a run stretching back to last season’s play-off semi-final victory over Eastleigh: “It’s surprised me – when I was younger I couldn’t save a penalty at all! I always seemed to dive to the wrong side, but since being at Dover I’ve been lucky. Part of me obviously hopes I can continue this run, however hopefully I won’t have to..”

Paul Fairclough recently handed Walker his second call-up to the England C side, which features players who play for clubs outside of the Football League. The only player outside of the Conference Premier to be in the squad that faced Latvia, Walker feels very proud of this recognition: “It’s amazing to be called up to play for your country, no matter what level it’s at.

“There are a lot of goalkeepers around who could’ve been called up but it was a proud moment for me to get that call. It’s great for my all-around development – working with different coaches, and playing with a different group of players definitely helps my game.”

The side’s next fixture is at home to the Czech Republic in November, a match in which Walker hopes to be involved in: “It’d be great if I was asked to be a part of it again. To do that though, I need to keep playing well for Dover.”

Walker recently signed a new two-year contract which will keep him at Crabble until the summer of 2015, a decision he found easy to make: “I had a few clubs interested in me, but at this point in my career I want to be playing football regularly. Last season was my first season of being number one at a club since I was playing for Brighton at under-16 level.

“I couldn’t turn the offer down. Working with Chris and Jake has helped me a lot and I’m really happy at the club. There’s guys my age who are at a higher level but are just sitting on the bench every week – I don’t want to be one of them. I enjoyed my football last season and hope that continues for the next two seasons.”

My discussion with Mitch about last season’s campaign soon turned to the final game of the season, where the side lost out in the play-off final in extra time to Salisbury: “That was hard to take. We had worked so hard for the last ten months and it all came down to that last game – but that’s football.

*Q2*“When we got that late equaliser, I really thought it was going to be our day. Losing in extra time was hard to take but it spurred me on and I learnt a hell of a lot in that game alone. Whilst I was so disappointed, I soon realised there was no point dwelling on the result – we lost the game, and there’s nothing more that we could do at the time.

Walker started his career at Brighton & Hove Albion, making his professional debut as an 18 year old in a match at the Withdean Stadium against Yeovil Town in the 2009/10 season. Harbouring ambitions to play at that level again one day, Walker comments: “I’m still young for a goalkeeper – usually people in my position peak at around 30, so I’ve got a long way to go yet. I’m determined to play League football again, but right now my focus is on doing my best for Dover.

I’ve got a lot of improving to do. At the moment, I’m just grateful to be playing. Every goalkeeper makes mistakes, but it’s how I learn from them that’s important.”

It is evident from my conversation with Mitch that he rates the setup at Dover very highly, from the ground and facilities through to the players he lines up alongside: “At this level, we’re lucky to have what we have – a great ground, excellent backroom staff and the fans that pay their money to come and see us every week.”

Reverting back to his disappointment at the side’s recent form, Walker has these final words: “Our main aim is to get back to winning ways, starting with Sutton tomorrow night. We’ve only played seven games and still have such a long way to go.

“I find it easier playing in front of a lot of fans, and the drop in home attendances is our own doing really – we can’t expect a high number of fans to keep turning up if we’re not producing the goods on the field. All I ask is that the fans remain patient, get behind the team and together we’ll get back to our best.”

*BS*In a season which has so far fallen below expectations, one positive is the form of Mitch Walker. The goalkeeper, who turns 22 next week, has put in a string of good performances but the current points tally is something he is disappointed with*BF*:

“I’m not sure where it’s gone wrong – it’s hard to put my finger on anything in particular. A lack of goals obviously goes some way to explaining it, but it’s not like we’re not creating any chances – I’d be more concerned if that was the case. I think it’s all down to confidence.

“Once our strikers start finding the net, I’m sure they’ll start scoring regularly. If you look at the quality we have up front, they’re all capable players and all able to score a lot of goals. Obviously our recent form has been disappointing but we’ve still got 35 games left and we will turn it around.”

The club’s historical troubles at Crabble have been evident again this season, with three consecutive home defeats now recorded in the Skrill South. Walker sees a real difference between the way the side play at home and away: “When teams come to our ground, they often sit back and try to hit us on the break. That doesn’t happen so much away from home.

“I think it’s a combination of frustration and not getting ahead in games, and sometimes a lack of concentration, that sees us undone late on. In all three games (against Concord, Hayes & Yeading and Weston) I think we should’ve got at least a point – probably all three – in each.

*Q1*“When things aren’t going to plan at home, we need to stay calm and keep passing the ball like we can instead of hitting it long.”

Walker’s most impressive performance this season came in the 1-0 win away at Whitehawk, although he confesses it wasn’t a great team performance: “That game is probably the worst we’ve played all season. We nicked a penalty, but spent most of the second half defending. It shouldn’t be like that – we’re a big club in this league and, away to a newly-promoted side, we shouldn’t be coming away feeling we were lucky to win.”

The 6ft 3in stopper has saved his last five penalties for the club, a run stretching back to last season’s play-off semi-final victory over Eastleigh: “It’s surprised me – when I was younger I couldn’t save a penalty at all! I always seemed to dive to the wrong side, but since being at Dover I’ve been lucky. Part of me obviously hopes I can continue this run, however hopefully I won’t have to..”

Paul Fairclough recently handed Walker his second call-up to the England C side, which features players who play for clubs outside of the Football League. The only player outside of the Conference Premier to be in the squad that faced Latvia, Walker feels very proud of this recognition: “It’s amazing to be called up to play for your country, no matter what level it’s at.

“There are a lot of goalkeepers around who could’ve been called up but it was a proud moment for me to get that call. It’s great for my all-around development – working with different coaches, and playing with a different group of players definitely helps my game.”

The side’s next fixture is at home to the Czech Republic in November, a match in which Walker hopes to be involved in: “It’d be great if I was asked to be a part of it again. To do that though, I need to keep playing well for Dover.”

Walker recently signed a new two-year contract which will keep him at Crabble until the summer of 2015, a decision he found easy to make: “I had a few clubs interested in me, but at this point in my career I want to be playing football regularly. Last season was my first season of being number one at a club since I was playing for Brighton at under-16 level.

“I couldn’t turn the offer down. Working with Chris and Jake has helped me a lot and I’m really happy at the club. There’s guys my age who are at a higher level but are just sitting on the bench every week – I don’t want to be one of them. I enjoyed my football last season and hope that continues for the next two seasons.”

My discussion with Mitch about last season’s campaign soon turned to the final game of the season, where the side lost out in the play-off final in extra time to Salisbury: “That was hard to take. We had worked so hard for the last ten months and it all came down to that last game – but that’s football.

*Q2*“When we got that late equaliser, I really thought it was going to be our day. Losing in extra time was hard to take but it spurred me on and I learnt a hell of a lot in that game alone. Whilst I was so disappointed, I soon realised there was no point dwelling on the result – we lost the game, and there’s nothing more that we could do at the time.

Walker started his career at Brighton & Hove Albion, making his professional debut as an 18 year old in a match at the Withdean Stadium against Yeovil Town in the 2009/10 season. Harbouring ambitions to play at that level again one day, Walker comments: “I’m still young for a goalkeeper – usually people in my position peak at around 30, so I’ve got a long way to go yet. I’m determined to play League football again, but right now my focus is on doing my best for Dover.

I’ve got a lot of improving to do. At the moment, I’m just grateful to be playing. Every goalkeeper makes mistakes, but it’s how I learn from them that’s important.”

It is evident from my conversation with Mitch that he rates the setup at Dover very highly, from the ground and facilities through to the players he lines up alongside: “At this level, we’re lucky to have what we have – a great ground, excellent backroom staff and the fans that pay their money to come and see us every week.”

Reverting back to his disappointment at the side’s recent form, Walker has these final words: “Our main aim is to get back to winning ways, starting with Sutton tomorrow night. We’ve only played seven games and still have such a long way to go.

“I find it easier playing in front of a lot of fans, and the drop in home attendances is our own doing really – we can’t expect a high number of fans to keep turning up if we’re not producing the goods on the field. All I ask is that the fans remain patient, get behind the team and together we’ll get back to our best.”

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Whites fans can expect a much better home performance than last time out predicts assistant boss Jake Leberl after his side lost 1-0 to newly promoted Concord at Crabble last Saturday. ‘We will not just be turning up for the game and the players should not need any motivating. Maybe the emotion and workrate of the Ebbsfleet game had an impact on the players, so we need to get off to a good start against Hayes and Yeading.’

Athletic did make amends with a hard fought win away to Whitehawk on Monday, with starlet Tom Murphy netting a penalty on the stroke of half time to steal his team a 1-0 win and Jake was satisfied with the victory despite the narrow margin. ‘Not many teams will win there and the sloping pitch plays a massive part – Whitehawk threw everything at us as they had nothing to lose and all we could do was contain them.’

Jake also had special mention for match winner Murphy. ‘I’m really pleased with him, he has settled in well considering he is quite shy and there are a lot of big characters in the squad, so it was good he wanted to take the penalty.’

Interestingly, Chris and Jake decided to only make one change to the team, with Tom Wynter replaced by Barry Cogan after the former had arrived late due to a personal issue. ‘The easiest thing to do is drop players after a bad game’ explained Jake, ‘but in fact players tend to naturally up their level the next time they play.’

Dover’s latest win saw them rise to 4th in the table with 9 points from 4 games, only 1 place behind early leaders Eastbourne. ‘We expected fours results but would have taken 9 points before those games’ said Jake.

Dover are not the only favourites to have surprisingly dropped points already and Jake was quick to acknowledge this fact. ‘Eastleigh, Sutton and Ebbsfleet have all had patchy starts, so it goes to show you can’t just turn up in this league and some of the results have been amazing!’

Whites fans can expect a much better home performance than last time out predicts assistant boss Jake Leberl after his side lost 1-0 to newly promoted Concord at Crabble last Saturday. ‘We will not just be turning up for the game and the players should not need any motivating. Maybe the emotion and workrate of the Ebbsfleet game had an impact on the players, so we need to get off to a good start against Hayes and Yeading.’

Athletic did make amends with a hard fought win away to Whitehawk on Monday, with starlet Tom Murphy netting a penalty on the stroke of half time to steal his team a 1-0 win and Jake was satisfied with the victory despite the narrow margin. ‘Not many teams will win there and the sloping pitch plays a massive part – Whitehawk threw everything at us as they had nothing to lose and all we could do was contain them.’

Jake also had special mention for match winner Murphy. ‘I’m really pleased with him, he has settled in well considering he is quite shy and there are a lot of big characters in the squad, so it was good he wanted to take the penalty.’

Interestingly, Chris and Jake decided to only make one change to the team, with Tom Wynter replaced by Barry Cogan after the former had arrived late due to a personal issue. ‘The easiest thing to do is drop players after a bad game’ explained Jake, ‘but in fact players tend to naturally up their level the next time they play.’

Dover’s latest win saw them rise to 4th in the table with 9 points from 4 games, only 1 place behind early leaders Eastbourne. ‘We expected fours results but would have taken 9 points before those games’ said Jake.

Dover are not the only favourites to have surprisingly dropped points already and Jake was quick to acknowledge this fact. ‘Eastleigh, Sutton and Ebbsfleet have all had patchy starts, so it goes to show you can’t just turn up in this league and some of the results have been amazing!’

We have today received confirmation of delivery dates for both the first team kits and replica shirts from manufacturer Surridge Sport.

The first team kits will be delivered to the club this weekend. We hope that they will arrive in time for our Skrill South fixture against Hayes & Yeading.

Fan replicas will follow on the 12th September and will be available to pickup from the ground on the 13th September.

If you have already paid for delivery your shirt will be dispatched immediately on the 12th, if you would like to have your shirt delivered but have not yet paid the delivery charge, you can call the office on or after 13th September to arrange payment.

Surridge have told us that they will also deliver any shirts that are completed early on a daily basis to get to fans asap.

The club would once again like to apologise to fans that have pre-ordered their shirts, the delay has been far from ideal. However, we hope that your new shirts will be worth the wait.

We have today received confirmation of delivery dates for both the first team kits and replica shirts from manufacturer Surridge Sport.

The first team kits will be delivered to the club this weekend. We hope that they will arrive in time for our Skrill South fixture against Hayes & Yeading.

Fan replicas will follow on the 12th September and will be available to pickup from the ground on the 13th September.

If you have already paid for delivery your shirt will be dispatched immediately on the 12th, if you would like to have your shirt delivered but have not yet paid the delivery charge, you can call the office on or after 13th September to arrange payment.

Surridge have told us that they will also deliver any shirts that are completed early on a daily basis to get to fans asap.

The club would once again like to apologise to fans that have pre-ordered their shirts, the delay has been far from ideal. However, we hope that your new shirts will be worth the wait.

*BS*Defender Michael Kamara talks about the side’s start to the season, picking himself up from the play-off final against Salisbury and the togetherness in Whites’ squad.*BF*

The 24-year-old has been ever-present in the side ever since his move from Carshalton Athletic in March of this year, and is pleased with how this season has started: “Overall, we’re pleased – the win against Ebbsfleet was fantastic and it was good to pick up a hard-fought win at Whitehawk.

“Of course, we’re disappointed at losing to Concord – but I think that was just a bad day at the office. We’re not going to win every game, but it’s about how we react to the defeats and manage to win the following game – which we did on Bank Holiday Monday.”

Kamara was full of praise for goalkeeper Mitch Walker’s performance against the newly-promoted Sussex side: “Mitch was incredible, I told him after the game that he effectively won it for us. I’ve played with a lot of good ‘keepers in my career so far, but Mitch is definitely up there with the best and he’s just going to improve even further.”

The Greek-born defender was on the losing side in last season’s play-off final defeat at Salisbury, and admits it was difficult to pick himself up from this: “At the time, it was tough – we’d got so far, and battled hard against Eastleigh in the semi-final, and to lose in the play-off in the way we did was difficult. Chris and Jake were fantastic, though – they told us not to dwell on the loss and to make sure we came back even stronger next season. There’s a real sense of unfinished business within the squad.”

Six of the players who started against Salisbury have now left the club, but Kamara feels the club have done well to strengthen over the summer: “We’re much more of a team this season. It’s been a good start to the season but it’s still early days – after 10 games or so, we’ll be much more aware of each other’s ability and style of play and that’s when we should be strong. The performance against Ebbsfleet showed that we can perform in the big games.”

*Q1*Unity is clearly prevalent in this year’s squad, which Kamara is quick to attribute to the management: “There’s a great togetherness about us, which has been encouraged by Chris and Jake. Every single one of us is determined to achieve a lot at the club. It’s not just off the pitch, we’re told to take the team spirit we have and show it on the pitch too.

“Personally speaking, I think Welling (last season’s champions) had excellent team spirit – I don’t think they were the best footballing team in the league, but their unity probably won it for them.”

Kamara is grateful to his old employers and the part they had to play in his move to Crabble: “I was under contract at Carshalton at the time. I heard Chris was interested in me but wasn’t sure anything would come of it due to my contract situation. However, I spoke to my chairman at Carshalton and explained the opportunity being offered to me, and he agreed to release me from my contract, which I’m grateful for – and I’ve got no regrets.

“I’ve played at this level before, for Staines, Boreham Wood and Woking, but Dover is the best non-league club I’ve been at. Everyone – from the chairman to the manager, and my team-mates – is so professional and the set-up is great. I’m always so excited to train and play.”

Speaking about the club’s supporters, Kamara feels like they will play a huge part in any success this season: “The atmosphere at Salisbury was great, but bettered against Ebbsfleet – wow, what a game to play in. They never stopped making noise throughout the game and I could hear them so clearly on the pitch – they’re our twelfth man and the support, both home and away, is incredible.”

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