Andy Hessenthaler has hailed the performance of Inih Effiong after he made his first start for Dover since February in Saturday's goalless draw with Chesterfield.

The striker proved a threat all afternoon as he slotted in beside Alfie Pavey in the absence of the injured Jamie Allen.

His display not only repaid the faith of his manager but also evidently caught the eye of Chesterfield boss John Sheridan.

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Hessenthaler said: "I thought he was excellent, he was a handful all game, their manager just said that to me.

"I spoke to him yesterday, he hasn't had his opportunity. Alfie [Pavey] was a little bit off it today, but he only passed a fitness test yesterday and has been struggling with his ankle a bit.

"We lost Jamie with a hamstring problem, but I thought Inih was excellent, his performance deserved a goal. It wasn't easy for him, he was getting pulled, it's hard against those big centre halves, but he was good."

Both sides were limited to few clear-cut chances on the day, with Stuart Lewis and Bedsente Gomis working hard to prevail in a physical midfield battle.

Hessenthaler added: "They were excellent, Stewart got man of the match but it could have been Beds [Bedsente Gomis] or Mitch Brundle. I thought the whole back four or five were good actually.

"We kept going, it wasn't a great game. Performance wise I'm not going to knock them, it wasn't great with the ball in terms of our decision making but it's another point to the tally and we're getting closer to that 50.

"We were able to grind out a result today, I thought we were the better team in the second half, the last 15 minutes they [Chesterfield] came back into it.

"We just needed to find that little bit of quality to get that goal and that would have hopefully been enough for us to win the game, but we haven't lost, we've kept a clean sheet and kept a run of five games unbeaten.

"It was a scrappy old affair but a clean sheet and five games unbeaten at this time of the season, I can't grumble."

Dover are now nine points clear of the relegation zone after 21st-placed Havant saw their survival hopes dented by a 2-1 defeat to Harrogate.

With just four games remaining, Hessenthaler's men travel to Barrow next week knowing a win could all-but secure their spot in the division next season.

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