There has been a change in goalkeeper for Dover ahead of the season run-in.

Relegation-bound Whites saw keeper Daniel Jinadu return to parent club Maidenhead after their weekend 1-0 National League South loss at Weston-super-Mare.

He has since been replaced by 19-year-old Reading goalkeeper Matthew Rowley, who’s due to make his debut at third-bottom Eastbourne Borough tonight and his home bow against fellow strugglers Havant & Waterlooville this Saturday, joining until the end of the season.

Dover manager Jake Leberl said: “I would like to thank Dan.

“I thought he got better and better the more that he played. It’s a shame that we couldn’t keep him - but Maidenhead have decided to recall him.”

Rowley has previous loan experience at Isthmian Premier Bognor Regis and Beaconsfield Town.

Defeat at the Woodspring Stadium edged the basement boys another step closer towards relegation being confirmed, with matches starting to run out.

Leberl admits the club’s inability to have an experienced spine to their side has been a big factor behind their struggles.

“We can say we feel we have been unlucky - but I don’t believe in all that,” he said. “We have just lacked in certain areas all season.

“There’s still a No.5 shirt hanging up in the dressing room. It’s been there all season and it’s similar with the No.1 shirt, really.

“If you don’t have a No.1, a No.5 and a No.9, you’re going to struggle.”

Dover endured another afternoon to forget at Weston. They arrived late due to a serious crash on the M4, with kick-off delayed until 4pm, and were edged out as midfielder James Dodd got the only goal late on.

“It’s deja vu to a certain degree,” reflected Leberl. “It was very similar to Maidstone and Chippenham - although it’s probably more similar to the Chippenham game.

“I’ve not been able to see the goal back yet but it looks like an individual mistake decided the game.

“We started all right. Then, they had a spell where they were dominating and Dan made a couple of saves. We had a couple of chances that we didn’t take and you worry at that point.

“But, again, I cannot really fault anyone.

“We just need to find a way of picking up a few results and getting a bit of confidence back into the boys.

“That can help us end the season on a high, rather than it being really, really doom and gloom.”

Newly-signed Whites defender Dylan Pepe came on for his club debut at half-time. Pepe has previous experience with rivals Welling and most recently played for Krumovgrad in Bulgaria.

Leberl, who also revealed full-backs Bailey Akehurst and John Oyenuga are nearing respective injury comebacks, said: “He has good attributes.

“We need to work on him defensively. But he’s not a young boy - and it’s hard to teach older players new tricks.

“He’s fitted in and maybe offers us something different. He’s coming in for expenses.

“He wants an opportunity and that’s where we’re at.”

But leaving Dover is striker Zidan Sutherland.

“He was coming in from Birmingham,” Leberl revealed. “It all got a bit much for him in the end.

“When you’re playing regularly and scoring goals, and the weather is nice, you can suffer it. But there were several times he got stuck in traffic on his way to training.

“To be fair to him, it was his decision.

“Good luck to him. Hopefully, he can get his career up and running.”

While Whites appear set to start the 2024/25 campaign at Step 3, so, too, do their weekend visitors.

Havant & Waterlooville were only relegated from the National League five years ago and are understood to have a healthy budget. But the Hawks could potentially even finish bottom of the table - provided Dover can chase them down.

Leberl, whose side lost 4-3 in Hampshire in early December, said: “That’s got to be the aim (to not finish bottom).

“Havant, with the budget they have got, it’s incredible, really. They have got the players and they have got the squad.

“When we went down there, they showed they’re a good team. There’s something absolutely amiss for them to be where they are.

“We have got the polar opposite problem.

“We have put in all the effort and just have lacked a bit of quality and, now, confidence, which is massive.”