Everyone is up for our trip to Salisbury, says Dover Athletic boss Chris Kinnear

CHRIS KINNEAER was in upbeat mood on Saturday evening, despite seeing his Dover Athletic side surrender a two goal advantage against Havant & Waterlooville to draw 2-2 at Crabble on Saturday.



A Tyrone Sterling header and Barry Cogan free kick just before half time put Whites in firmly in control, but the Hawks responded after the break with strikes from Shar Kabba and Christian Nanetti.

Kinnear told www.doverathletic.com: "It's not really a fair result as we had more chances, but they threw caution to the wind. Playing like that, they could have lost 4-0 on another day. The lads worked hard and could have put the game to bed first half, but it's difficult to play against a team that runs everywhere."

With the score 2-0 to Dover at half-time, Havant manager Lee Bradbury bought on attacking midfielder Steven Ramsey for the more defensive Eddie Hutchinson in a bold move, which ultimately paid off as his team scored two goals to bring the game level.

Though it was an opportunity missed to close the gap on league leaders Welling United, Kinnear was full of praise for his team.

The former Margate boss said: "How can you say a bad thing about them? They made a couple of mistakes which led to Havant scoring the two goals and we had spoken about it before the game, but it is part of the learning process.

"They are all in the dressing room disappointed as in the cold light of day it is two points dropped but I don't want to knock the lads as they have won five and drawn two of the last seven games."

Kinnear faces one of his toughest tests yet with a visit to second place Salisbury City next Saturday.

He said: "They are a decent side which is why they are up there, but everyone is up for it."

Danny Webb is once again expected to play in place of Ian Simpemba, who will serve the second of his five-match ban.

Kinnear added: "We missed Ian's encouragement and you can see why he is the captain. He is a leader. But Danny has not played for a few games and stuck at it today. He did nothing wrong."

Article courtesy of www.doverathletic.com