It's certainly in our hands, says Dover Athletic boss Nicky Forster

DOVER ATHLETIC manager Nicky Forster says their Kent rivals Welling United go into Saturday’s Crabble showdown as slight favourites.



Jamie Day brings his side to the Kent coast sitting in fourth place in the Blue Square Bet South table with 54 points from 28 games – ten points clear of sixth-placed Dover Athletic.

But Dover Athletic go into the game on a ten-match unbeaten run and Forster is looking forward to the big Kent derby.

He said: “It’s a big game for both teams.  I think they will be slightly favourites going into it as they’re on a good run of form themselves.  They had a hard-fought win over Havant & Waterlooville on Tuesday night, so it’s all to play for.

“We’re in good form at the moment.   We haven’t lost in 10 and we’d like to have picked up a couple more wins rather than draws (in that run), but to keep an unbeaten run going for that amount of time shows that things are going well.”

Dover Athletic are seven points adrift of fifth-placed side Sutton United, a side that clinched the Ryman Premier League title last season and have been in the play-off zone all season.

Forster has brought quality and confidence to Crabble since taking over from Martin Hayes earlier on in the season and they are capable of securing a top-five place come the end of the season.

Forster said: “We had a couple of games in hand and we still have a couple of  games in hand now with a couple of teams below us, so if we can get the points from those games, what it does is pushes us up.

“Maybe it comes down to six from five, which we’re one so it’s certainly in our hands.  We’ve got Sutton at home, we’ve got Chelmsford at home and we also got Welling, obviously on Saturday so we’ve got three teams above us all at home and we’re particularly strong at home.

“I certainly think that if we get two points a game that will put us around the play-off’s.  We’ve got a big game on Saturday and we have to make sure we perform well because that is one of the key games.”

Forster then takes his side to Reachfields Stadium next Tuesday to do battle with Scott Porter’s warriors for a place in the Kent Senior Cup Sponsored by Portablefloodlights.com Final.

The winner of the game will play either favourites Charlton Athletic or holders Dartford in the showpiece Final.

Dover Athletic last travelled to Reachfields Stadium to play Hythe Town in a FA Cup Second Qualifying Round tie back in September 2007 and then manager Andy Hessenthaler lost his first game in charge of the club as the then Kent League side won the game 2-1 in front of a 1,109 fans.
 
Forster insists he is going to take the game seriously, to avoid a similar defeat.

He said: “Like any other game we’ll go into it trying to win the game.  We don’t ever turn up to do any different so we’ll prepare with a team that we hope will win the game.

“We’re this close to the final now.  We never go out with the intention it doesn’t matter if we lose today.  We’ll go out to win the game.  We’re that close to the final so it will be nice to actually get to the final itself.”

Hythe Town, who are in eighth place in the Ryman League Division One South table, are without a game on Saturday but they go into the mouth-watering local showdown on the back of an eight-match unbeaten run, since suffering an embarrassing 8-0 defeat to local rivals Folkestone Invicta on Boxing Day.

Forster knows Porter will get his players fully charged for next Tuesday’s Semi-Final.

He said: “They’ll be charged with the prospect of playing against a local team in a higher division than them and I think they will be tough opposition that’s for sure.

“But we’ve got a good side so we’ll have a look at it (the team we play). What I don’t want to do is go out to win that game at the expense of losing key players with the run in to the league.

“I’ve said from the start the league is the most important thing for me.”

Visit Dover Athletic’s website: www.doverathletic.com  

Dover Athletic  v  Welling United
Blue Square Bet South
Saturday 25^th February 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Crabble, Lewisham Road, River, Dover, Kent CT17 0JB