Nicky Southall says Dover defender Will De Havilland is getting back to his best.

Southall believes the big centre-half suffered from a combination of lockdown at the end of last season and the departure of defensive partner Kevin Lokko to Harrogate.

The former Wycombe man has taken time to find his feet this season but is now looking the part.

“He’s just starting to hit his peak form,” said assistant manager Southall. “He’ll admit it took him a little while.

“When the first lockdown came we had a long time not playing and it takes a while to get your timing back, especially for a big centre-half.

“He struggled to get his timing back heading the ball but he’s looking really sharp now and hopefully he’ll be that giant at the back that we sorely need.”

Southall also believes the loss of Lokko also affected De Havilland, having enjoyed a great understanding in defence last season.

“He struggled with Lokko leaving,” said Southall. “You form partnerships and you trust each other as defenders so losing Kev has probably knocked him but he’s getting back to his best.

“He’s wears his heart on his sleeve, he’s a no-nonsense defender and that’s what you need.

“We understand about centre-backs these days playing out from the back and this, that and the other, and he can mix his game up.

“If the ball needs to go in Row Z he’ll put it there but if you’re looking to play out from the back, he can handle that as well, so he ticks a lot of boxes.

“He just needs that defensive partner alongside him to form a relationship.

“You need the spine of the team to be strong, from the goalkeeper to the two centre-backs and the midfielders. You need that solid foundation.”

Southall first linked up with De Havilland at Maidstone, taking him on loan from Wycombe, who were on their way up from League 2 at the time.

He signed a permanent deal at the Gallagher before joining Dover a year later.

Southall feels the 26-year-old was good enough to stay with the Chairboys, who this season are playing in the Championship for the first time.

He said: “I think he was good enough, he just wanted to play regularly and you can’t blame him for that.

“Football is a short career and if you go one or two years with a fleeting amount of games, it soon passes you by.

“You get to 26/27 and people go, ‘He’s getting a bit long in the tooth now.’

“He just wanted to go out and play games. I did that that in my career, taking a step backwards to go forwards.”

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