Dover Athletic manager Andy Hessenthaler expects National League leaders Stockport County to win the league ahead of clash between the two sides this weekend
Dover boss Andy Hessenthaler expects weekend opponents Stockport to win the National League this season.
It is top against bottom on Saturday as Whites aim for a first away win of the campaign, having beaten Eastleigh 1-0 last Tuesday for their first victory this term, before they lost 1-0 to Southend at the weekend.
Stockport sat 10th in the table when former manager Simon Rusk left in October - but Dave Challinor is now at the helm and has steered County to seven successive league wins.
“We’ve got a real tough one coming up and, personally, I think Stockport will win the league,” said Hessenthaler, who wants his troops to put on a better showing than they did in their previous away match, which they lost 5-0 at Solihull Moors.
“Listen, all the onus is on them. They are expected to win, aren’t they?
"They are playing Dover and their fans will expect to turn us over.
“But we have to make sure we do a lot better than we did in our last away trip, and have a real go and make it difficult for them.”
Whites looked much more assured at the back against Southend last weekend, only to concede in the second half, with ex-Dartford midfielder Noor Husin scoring in front of a crowd of 2,657 at Crabble.
But Dover’s defence will be heavily tested again at Stockport, with County having won 5-0 at Barnet last time out - in total, they have scored 20 goals in six games in all competitions so far in 2022. They bolstered their ranks on deadline day as they brought in winger Myles Hippolyte on a free transfer from League 2 Scunthorpe.
Whites have also not won away in a competitive match since a 2-0 success at Stockport in February 2020 when Inih Effiong, now at Woking, struck twice.
Hessenthaler, who also gave first starts to midfielder