By Alex Hoad

Dover boss Nicky Forster says he has no doubt his players are capable of putting the disappointment of the festive period behind them and getting their title challenge back on track.

The Whites boss (pictured) admitted they have things to work on after back-to-back losses against previously struggling Tonbridge Angels – results which saw Whites fall five points behind Blue Square Bet South leaders Salisbury having played two more games.

Ben May’s late strike was a mere consolation as goals from Sonny Miles and former White George Purcell earned a 2-1 win for 10-man Angels at Longmead on Boxing Day before David Ijaha stole the only goal in injury-time at Crabble on New Year’s Day.

Forster admitted he felt devastated after the frustrating defeat in front of their biggest crowd of the season in a game in which they rattled the woodwork three times and saw four efforts blocked on the line.

Forster said: "We all feel sick. We should have scored, it was as simple as that but the goal didn’t come and we let it affect us more and more. If you don’t take your chances you are opening yourself up to a sucker punch and that’s what happened."

Dover are due to entertain struggling Staines on Saturday and Forster said: "We want to stop the rot and go out and get a result. If we can do that, then we can build on that again. Any new run has got to start somewhere but we have had back-to-back defeats we need to address first. We have stuff to work on."

Ricky Modeste returns from a one-match ban but Shane Huke will miss more than a month after fracturing a metatarsal during training.