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Dover Athletic boss Chris Kinnear expects FA Cup tie against Guernsey to provide a real test

There was no joy for Dover manager Chris Kinnear and his side against FC Halifax.
There was no joy for Dover manager Chris Kinnear and his side against FC Halifax.

Dover Athletic make their entry into this season’s FA Cup on Saturday with a second qualifying round tie against Ryman League, Division 1 South newcomers Guernsey.

And with the minor disagreement between the clubs over when and where the tie would actually be played now resolved, Whites manager Chris Kinnear is looking forward to his side building on last weekend’s 2-0 win at Bath City.

The venue for the tie has been switched to Lancing FC in Sussex after Dover were not prepared to play on Saturday afternoon immediately after a rugby match had been played on Guernsey’s Footes Lane pitch, which they share with the island’s rugby club.

Whites chairman Jim Parmenter accused Guernsey of being “disingenuous and aggressive” in a press release which the Channel Island club had issued while negotiations with Dover over the arrangements for the tie were still taking place.

Kinnear insisted: “We never had a problem about having to travel to Guernsey but we weren’t prepared to play on their pitch straight after a rugby game had been played on it.”

Dover will go into the tie in a much happier state of mind after ending their run of four defeats in The Skrill South at Bath, but Kinnear knows that Whites will have to maintain their impressive away form against Guernsey, who had won five league matches in a row before Wednesday's home game with Chipstead.

Kinnear said: “They have got some good, experienced players like Ryan-Zico Black, who has played in the Conference and they are also used to playing in front of 1,000-plus crowds at Guernsey, so I’m sure it won’t be easy.”

The Dover boss is hopeful that Tom Wynter will have recovered from a calf injury.

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