Dover Athletic slipped to their first away defeat of the season at Boreham Wood and with lowly Chorley the visitors to Crabble this weekend, boss Andy Hessenthaler has challenged his side to bring their stunning road form home.

Talking about last weekend’s defeat at Boreham Wood which snapped his sides four game away winning streak, the Dover boss described the game to KSN as “Very much disappointing as we didn’t see it coming and maybe that’s where it came from with the players as well as we’ve won four out of four before hand away from home and whether a little bit of complacency crept in. 

“Obviously in all our team talks we talk about how we’ve won our previous games and encourage as we knew that Boreham Wood were a decent side, but unfortunately we just didn’t turn up last Saturday and to be fair to the players on Monday we came in and watched the whole game back and it didn’t lie really!  And to be fair to the players they knew as well.  So, we’ve nipped it in the bud and put it to bed and are really now looking to bounce back at the weekend against Chorley.

“Whenever you go away from home you always want to make sure that you stay in the game and don’t let the home side have something to build on but unfortunately two goals in the first eighteen minutes and then we face an uphill struggle away from home. 

“To be honest though we could have scored five, but they could have scored a lot more than that in the end and that’s the worrying thing whereas we’ve looked so strong away from home and Saturday we didn’t!  So, we’ve got to get back to basics and keep creating the chances that we are. 

“We’ve only had two clean sheets out of ten games and that’s got to improve if we’re going to achieve anything this year.”

We then asked the Dover boss why their away form was so good, and he admitted that pressure to home the home games had a lot to do with it.  Hessenthaler admitted “of course it does!  They won and have moved off the bottom after a good win on Saturday against Stockport which is a fantastic result for them after conceding quite a few goals already – and they kept a clean sheet.  So, they’ll be coming down on a high. 

“We’re expected to win again so can we handle that bit of pressure which won’t make the game any easier.  If anything, I think after the back of last season and how we finished, the pressure on us to win home games will always grow – and it’s the same for me and all the players too.  

“Its not just the fans, we believe we’ve got a good squad of players here which is the best squad that Dover have had for a very long time if not in their history. We’ve got an opportunity to really have a go at something this year – our aim was to try and get that top seven place which is where we are at the moment.”  Hessenthaler went on, “I’ll take that come January, if were in the top seven or certainly around the area, and then have a real good go for the last few months. 

“So it is right – the expectation levels have gone up, but that’s with everyone connected with the club – and that includes myself, I expect us to win home games, but its just that we seem to have done it round the other way this year.  We’ve got to be able to handle the situation.”

“I think when you lose a game you want the next one to come around so that you can put things to bed, but in this instance I do think that not playing has helped if only just to have recovered a few who weren’t involved last weekend which is good news as we’ve had a could of square pegs playing in round holes! 

“We’ve definitely got Ricky (Modeste) back from international duty – I think this week, as much as you want a game to put last week’s disappointment to bed, the weeks break has undoubtedly helped us recover a few who weren’t involved to be involved against Chorley at the weekend.”