Recalled Dover defender Chevron McLean felt he had a point to prove in their weekend home draw against Chippenham - but conceded manager Mitch Brundle had been right to drop him!

McLean, formerly of Kingstonian, Cheshunt and Cray Wanderers, returned for Saturday’s 1-1 draw after being left out of the Whites squad which lost 2-0 at Dartford five days earlier.

Honest McLean said: “Every player wants to play every game. But in my opinion, I don’t think I deserved to play that [Dartford] game.

“I don’t think I’d played well in the two games before that. I’ve got the utmost respect for the gaffer.

“He’s honest with me, he’s real with me, and I think I needed to sit out that game to sit down and get the fire back in my belly.”

It’s fair to say many other footballers would not have taken such news as well as McLean did.

But the left-back said: “It’s football. It happens.

Report: Dover 1-1 Chippenham

Boss Brundle rues missed chances

“I’m quite honest with myself first. I’ll never pass the blame to anybody or ever blame anybody else. If anything happens on my side, I tend to take responsibility.

“I didn’t feel like I should be playing - but I didn’t need to say anything to him [Brundle]. He’d made the decision already so fair play.

“When I got my chance again, I just wanted to show what I’m about.”

That’s something many in the 596-strong crowd at Crabble felt McLean did, despite surviving a first-half penalty appeal for a handball against him.

“I felt like I had a point to prove,” he reflected. “Obviously, when you get back in, you want to prove to the gaffer why you should be playing.

“But obviously, there’s a lot I can still work on. I don’t think I played the perfect game.”

The Saint Vincent and the Grenadines international even had chances to score, although he was one of many home players to squander good opportunities.

He admitted: “I should have scored two! We played well, there’s some good bits, and there’s some positives to take from the game.

“It’s on to the next game and there’s some bits to build on - we definitely need to put the ball in the back of the net.”

Dover’s poor finishing came back to bite them when midfielder Craig Fasanmade netted a fortunate goal for the visitors and, although Whites equalised as a Chippenham player put Zidan Sutherland’s cross into their own net, the Wiltshire outfit had the better chances at the death.

McLean said: “It feels like a loss, to be fair.

“The boys played well but we feel like we had so many chances and could have put so many in the back of the net. But there’s some good bits and some things to work on.”

The game came at the end of a week in which forward Imran Kayani and midfielder Olu Durojaiye had left the club.

Asked what the atmosphere in the dressing room is like, McLean replied: “Always positive, always buzzing. We’re an honest bunch of boys that will always work for each other.

“We’re always honest with each other and you can see on the pitch that we want to work hard for each other and just play, and win games.”

Whites, still only with one win from seven National League South games this term, did spend the weekend in the relegation zone. But McLean believes they’ll finish much higher than they presently are.

“I don’t have any doubts about the boys in the dressing room,” he said.

“We’re going to work on more things - get better and better every game - so we’ll finish in a good spot.”

Whites are back in action tomorrow (Tuesday) night at St Albans.

Asked if he felt he should keep his place in the team, McLean replied: “That’s the gaffer’s decision!”