Dover Athletic manager Andy Hessenthaler wants to right wrongs of Aldershot defeat when sides meet again in National League at Crabble
08:14, 22 January 2020
updated: 08:54, 22 January 2020
Dover Athletic manager Andy Hessenthaler wants to avenge their defeat at Aldershot when the teams meet at Crabble this weekend.
Dover have the best away record in the National League and have only lost three times on the road so far this term – but one of those losses was a surprise 4-0 defeat at Aldershot in October.
Hessenthaler said: “Their current form is better than ours, so they are doing well.
"They sort of stayed in the division by default last season because of what happened at Gateshead. But they have a new manager now (Danny Searle) who is doing very well.
"We owe them one a little bit. It will not be an easy game, we know that.
"We have been so good away from home and I don’t think we saw that loss coming (at Aldershot). That’s something we cannot allow to happen again."
Leyton Orient defender Shadrach Ogie played the full 90 minutes on Saturday on debut in the goalless draw at Notts County, having joined Dover on loan until the end of the season.
“I thought the young lad from Orient was outstanding, an 18-year-old making his debut,” said Hessenthaler.
But the boss' search for a new striker continues after he missed out on two of his targets.
When asked if he was any closer to bringing in another frontman, Hessenthaler replied: “Not really. We’ll just keep working on that.
“As I said after the game on Saturday, we have been on the phone non-stop.
“We put offers in for a couple of forwards but they have gone to other clubs because we couldn’t afford their wages.
“But we will keep looking. The chairman (Jim Parmenter) has been brilliant, he’s really been trying for us so we will just keep working away on that.”
Dover are 12th but only eight points separate fifth-placed Boreham Wood and Sutton in 15th in the table.
“It’s tight for seventh place and tight towards the bottom,” Hessenthaler admitted.
“Obviously, we have a couple of games in hand on some sides.
“We are in a battle for seventh spot, like many teams are, so we will just keep trying to close that gap.”
Ricky Modeste will miss Dover’s match against Aldershot under the concussion protocol with the winger having been taken off in the second half at Notts County.
