The prospect of the end of an era at Dover looms large this week with a summer of upheaval expected at Crabble.

Whites lifted the Kent Senior Cup for the first time since 1991 with Monday’s 2-0 win over Welling at Maidstone, but with speculation about the future of boss Chris Kinnear and many first-team players out of contract, it looks to be a crucial period for chairman Jim Parmenter and the Athletic board.

Though Ricky Miller is expected to reveal a move to League 1 Peterborough in the coming days, the first player to officially leave Dover was former Blackpool and Shrewsbury midfielder James Caton, who was released on the eve of the final, having failed to make a league start since his switch from Southport in early February.

After a late-season stumble Dover fell narrowly short of a return to the National League play-offs, having to settle for sixth place behind Aldershot - despite Miller signing off in style with a last-day hat-trick to earn a 3-2 win at Barrow.

A board meeting is scheduled later this week but bullish Kinnear insists he is preparing for next season as though he will be in charge.

Kinnear insisted: “We’ve got to go out and get players and improve on what we’ve done. We’re talking about signing players.

“I don’t know whether I’ll be here, that’s not for me to answer, ask the chairman if I will be, but I’ll be working as if I will be, put it that way.”

He added: “It isn’t under my control, but why wouldn’t I be here, really?

“I’m as motivated as I was when I started 30 years ago. I wouldn’t be doing it if I wasn’t. It’s been a lot of years I’ve been doing it and most years I’ve been very, very successful.”

Kinnear claimed: “For three years we have been the most consistent side in the league –eighth, play-offs and (now) sixth. I don’t see anyone else who has been at the top for so long.”

Despite occupying a play-off spot until the final few weeks of the season, Kinnear insisted a sixth-placed finish means: “We’ve overachieved.”

He added: “I don’t think it was ever nailed on was it? Yes, we had it in our hands, but we were playing good sides. For a club like this to be that close all season I think is amazing.

“People are disappointed but it’s amazing really, early in the season we’d lost three of our best players but we had to get a side together to replace them.”

Looking ahead, he said: “The club’s getting the infrastructure, we’ve got the stand now, we’ve got a chance of pushing on from here, it’s good that we’ve got a great base.

“When you get close to what you’re trying to achieve you are disappointed, but it’s part of football.

"Look at the wider picture. We are where we are which is amazing – a lot of sides would like to be us. You mustn’t get too carried away. People do and that’s when you start faltering and not progressing.”