DOVER BOARD BACK CLIVE

JURY’S STILL OUT, WARNS CLIVE

CLIVE WALKER insists he is not going to get too carried away after getting off to a winning start upon his return to the Dover hotseat.

Walker, who replaced sacked manager Steve Browne only last Sunday after 15 months away from the club, admitted he was happy with the overall performance at Staines.

But he warned that he will be reserving his judgement on the Dover squad for the time being.

He said: “They did well. Staines were a decent side and we looked alright. I don’t want to say any more than that because I’ve been down this road before.

“I’ve got to see more games before making a proper judgement on this squad but I cannot fault their commitment on Saturday. It was good.

“We look decent up front. Paul Armstrong looks a good player and Matt Carruthers did well, although he is lacking match fitness at the moment – but he’ll get up to speed. He’s naturally fit anyway.

“I thought we got overwhelmed a couple of times in certain areas of the field. That was a concern but I need to see a bit more before deciding what’s what.

“Overall, it was a good day’s work. We were up against a good side and we’ve come away with three points. We desperately needed them – so you can’t argue with that.”

Walker took a punt at changing the formation to 4-4-2 and admitted: “It was a stab in the dark on my part. The system used earlier obviously wasn’t working, so I thought it might be an idea to change it.

“The team was picked based purely on how I saw it in the first week here. I liked Cloke and Readings in the centre of defence and Dean Palmer looked a very decent player.”

Palmer is subject to a seven-day approach from East Thurrock. The club received notification from the Essex side on Thursday and that means they can talk to the player on Wednesday, about a possible move to their club.

But the ball is firmly in Palmer’s court although Walker hopes he will stay at Dover. And Whites fans will be hoping he stays too, after impressing in a number of games since being signed by Browne.

He said: “I liked what I saw of him in training this week and at Staines. He showed a lot of good skills and looks decent to me.

“It’s down to Dean whether he wants to stay with us. He’s a non-contracted player so any club can put a seven-day notice in through the FA and then they are free to talk to him.”

Whites face Ashford at the Hoverspeed Stadium on Tuesday in the Kent Senior Cup quarter-final – giving Walker another chance to assess his squad, but without the pressure of league points being up for grabs.

Walker added: “It’s ideal for us. We want to win the game but there’s no pressure on us. I will get a good look at the players again and see how it goes.

“I may not call the players in for training on Thursday – depending on how much the game takes out of us. Although they will be coming in for training if the performance is poor.”