Boss Jake Leberl concedes Dover striker Decarrey Sheriff’s injury is a major blow.

Sheriff, who had scored three goals in Whites’ previous two National League South fixtures, came off in the first five minutes of Tuesday’s 1-0 loss against Chelmsford.

With influential forward Ruben Soares-Junior also out, it leaves Dover light on out-and-out goalscoring options and, although the Clarets lost defender Joe Grimwood early on, too, they have much deeper resources to help fill the void.

It's too soon to know how long Sheriff will be sidelined for, but the early signs aren’t good.

“They’re a full-time side,” said Leberl. “They can bring players in and have got a huge squad.

“Obviously, they did have a centre-half that has gone off but we have had a guy, who has got us the goals in the previous two games, coming off in the first couple of minutes.

“The block on the keeper (Chris Haigh) very early on has opened up his knee. It doesn’t look great for him.

“It’s a big blow for us, losing Decarrey. But that’s not the reason we lost the game.”

It’s now 10 matches in all competitions since 13th-placed Dover last won, 2-1 at Farnborough on September 6.

Chelmsford midfielder Taylor Clark got the game’s only goal at Crabble.

Leberl reflected: “I thought it had 0-0 written all over it. Obviously, it wasn’t a great game of football but not every game can be.

“We had a brilliant game against Dorking (a 2-2 stalemate) last Tuesday. Against Chelmsford, I felt we sort of evened each other out.

“It was a game of very few chances but conceding the goal in the manner we did, which is totally against what we do and our ethos, is bitterly disappointing.”

Clark netted as Whites were made to pay for giving possession away cheaply. Minutes earlier, they had done likewise - only for goalkeeper and captain Mitch Walker to produce a superb double save.

But Leberl’s men had no such luck the second time around.

“We got away with one - but you’re not going to get away with two,” the manager said.

“There were some really poor individual decisions that have cost us. But, on the other hand, we were up against it a little bit, with Decarrey going off very early.

“That was never going to help us. He’s been in a bit of a rich vein of form, hitting three goals in the previous two games, with Ruben being out.

“We’re a little bit short of goals but we have got to get on with it.

“I would have accepted a 0-0 against Chelmsford. I would have gone away, not happy, but at least that would have kept adding to the points tally.

“But to lose the game in the manner we did, that was really disappointing. I’m really disappointed for everyone from the fans to the board to the chairman [Jim Parmenter] and all the players.

“It’s a night to forget.”

A fixture-free weekend has come at the right time for Dover, who also lost 3-1 at Worthing last Saturday, as Sheriff’s first-half effort was in vain.

Leberl, who has signed ex-Crystal Palace youngster Finley Marjoram after a brief spell at neighbours Folkestone, said: “We have had to bring some boys in because we have picked up some injuries.

“It’s difficult because we don’t have a lot of time with the boys to bed them into what we do. It’s been a difficult period.

“I was more than happy with last week’s performance against Dorking. I thought we were good. I thought we did enough to win the game with the chances we had.

“I was more than happy with 70 minutes against Worthing on Saturday. Worthing are a really good side and we held our own.

“But the third goal, that wasn’t acceptable in the manner of it, and Tuesday’s goal wasn’t acceptable.

“Saturday will be an ideal session to bed in the newer boys, working a little bit more on what we expect.”

Whites defender Henry Lukombo has joined Ramsgate on loan and made his debut in their 2-2 Isthmian Premier draw against Carshalton.

Dover make the trip to Horsham in the league on Tuesday.

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