Chris Kinnear has urged the Dover Athletic faithful not to overreact to the back-to-back defeats which have dealt a blow to the club’s Skrill South promotion hopes.

Whites could have taken over the final play-off place for the first time since August 26 with a win on Saturday, however a late winner for Weston-super-Mare left Kinnear’s side five points and three places below the all-important fifth-spot – occupied by Weston – although they have played three games fewer than the Somerset side.

The Dover boss said: “We were trying to win the game, we were pushing forward when they scored the winner. We don’t ever go anywhere looking for a draw, we want to win every game.”

He added: “We’re still right in there. We’re only a couple of places outside the play-offs, a few points and we have games in hand.

“We certainly don’t want to overreact to what has happened and get down about it, otherwise it becomes a problem for everyone – you need to bounce back and focus on picking up the points to get you back where you want to be.

“There are plenty of games to go and we have games in hand as the FA Cup and Trophy runs set us back.”

Kinnear was left frustrated by the postponement of Tuesday’s scheduled trip to strugglers Tonbridge Angels, with the Whites boss adding: “I have no idea why it was called off.”

Rock-bottom Gosport Borough are the visitors on Saturday (3pm) in what is viewed as a must-win for the Whites, with sterner tests against promotion-chasers to follow in the following weeks.

Kinnear said: “We’ll be doing everything we can to win but they will not make it easy for us.

“We want the result and a convincing performance to help the confidence come back but they have reached the FA Trophy final (against Cambridge United at Wembley on March 23) and that should put them on a high.”