Andy Hessenthaler says Dover need to make Crabble a difficult place for teams to visit and aims to start that on Tuesday against Dagenham & Redbridge in the National League.

It will be Hessenthaler’s first home game since he took over as manager three weeks ago.

Since then Whites have drawn with Harrogate and lost at Braintree in the league and beaten Concord in the FA Cup.

Manager Hessenthaler said: “I was at the club eight years ago and we had some success and the atmosphere around the ground was tremendous and the fans played a massive part in what we achieved.

“This season has not worked out the way it should have done so far but we have to start performing in front of our own fans. Hopefully it will start at Dagenham.

“We have to bring the atmosphere back and make Crabble a difficult place to come and that will be our main aim starting from that game.”

Hessenthaler is expecting a tough game against fellow strugglers Dagenham who are managed by his friend Peter Taylor.

The next two home games are vitally important as they follow Tuesday’s match with a visit from Maidenhead, who are also scrapping near the bottom of the table.

Hessenthaler said: “We have another tough game in my first home game back at the club. It’s against a good friend of mine in Peter Taylor and we go back a long way.

“He’s made some good signings there like ourselves. It will be another tough ask for us but we have to set the standards that I expect.

“Hopefully we can bounce back and get ourselves up and running against Dagenham.

“Every game is massive now until the end of the season. If we don’t get results in the next two games it is not the be all and end all but it is vital we start getting some consistency.”