Manager Mitch Brundle has praised the willingness of his new-look Dover squad to take criticism on board.

Whites earned a hard-fought 2-1 National League South success at Slough on Saturday.

There’s a long way to go, of course, but for a side tipped to have been relegated this campaign, four points from three league matches has been a decent start despite Tuesday’s derby 1-0 loss at Tonbridge.

“They’re all willing to learn,” said 28-year-old Brundle, speaking before their midweek defeat.

“Every single one is willing to take advice and criticism on board. That’s good because I’m always ruthless.

“Once you accept one bad performance, they think it’s okay to have another one.

“But people have written them off and it’s got a fire in their bellies.”

Brundle conceded Dover were slightly fortunate to leave Slough with the points after substitute Luke Baptiste struck the all-important third goal of the game late on.

He suggested: “Getting a late winner is better than winning 3-0 because of the emotions and adrenaline it brings.

“It’s not good for me on the sidelines! But the crowd got to go home with that last-minute winner feeling.

“I don’t remember us doing it for a long time. It’s all been a bit doom and gloom in recent years but, hopefully, they can enjoy that winning feeling.

“I’m delighted for Baptiste as well.

“Hopefully, that does his confidence the world of good.”

Frontman Zidan Sutherland had broken the deadlock in Berkshire.

“It was a fantastic win,” Brundle reflected. “We rode our luck at times but luck comes your way if you work hard, and I thought we worked hard from start to the end.

“Was it a deserved win? I think a draw was probably the fair result - but you take wins however they come.”

Academy graduate Henry Young was a late addition to Dover’s starting line-up after fellow midfielder Joshua Anifowose was injured in the warm-up. Young came through another full game at Longmead.

Brundle said: “There were bits of his game that he can do better but that will come with playing and experience. I thought, overall, he was magnificent.

“He deserved his chance to play.

“If I had gone with three in midfield at the start of the season, he’d have deserved to be in there for his performances in pre-season.

“He has settled into the group. There’s a great camaraderie and atmosphere in there.

“They don’t feel like youngsters - they’re part of that group.

“There’s no pressure on Henry, he’s still only young, but he’ll just want to perform.”

On-loan Bournemouth goalkeeper Billy Terrell, turning 20 at the end of the month, kept Brundle’s team in it with some fine saves.

“He was magnificent,” said Brundle, whose team will host Braintree this Saturday.

“We thank Bournemouth again for letting us have him.

“He, obviously, has to come and get experience. We wanted a keeper that’s good at distributing the ball.

“You can tell he has Premier League quality.

“He’s going to make mistakes because of his age. But already you can tell he has got a good personality and I’m sure he’ll continue to be fantastic for us.

“Billy made some great saves on Saturday.”

Brundle also explained the reasoning behind the departure of Freddie Oliver - one of their better players last term - with the young midfielder an unused substitute in Ramsgate’s 4-2 Isthmian South East defeat at Sevenoaks.

“We tried to get him on contract,” he explained. “We had an agreement in place.

“He and his parents wanted him to focus on his schoolwork and we decided to let that happen. At the end of the season, he wanted to trial elsewhere.

“We’re just focusing on our squad.”