Dover Athletic midfielder Bivesh Gurung says Whites need to realise their quality and have more belief going into new year

Midfielder Bivesh Gurung says Dover Athletic need to believe in themselves more in the second half of the season.

Whites start the new year with a home game against National League South big guns Torquay at Crabble on Saturday (3pm).

It will be a great test for Jake Leberl’s side as they look to build on an encouraging start to the campaign following promotion.

Dover, tipped by many to struggle after promotion, have held their own back at Step 2, sitting eight points off the play-offs in 15th place.

Gurung, who joined Whites from Folkestone in October, said: “You always want to push as high as possible.

“I’m not going to put a limit on that but I think for us we need to realise our quality a little bit and have more belief in ourselves.

“We’ve got a young squad as well, so it is tough, but that’s where everyone needs to step up and be a leader.”

Gurung swapped an Isthmian Premier title charge at Folkestone to move back up to National League South football with Dover.

There’s every chance the 24-year-old would have finished the season with a winners’ medal at Cheriton Road but he wanted to test himself at the higher level.

He’d gone to Folkestone after recovering from a pre-season knee injury that cost him a move to Dagenham, linking up with Jay Saunders, his old manager at Margate.

“To be fair, I loved my time at Folkestone,” said Gurung, a National League South title winner with Maidstone in 2022.

“That got me up and running and I was at a place where I felt safe, with a manager I’d played under previously.

“You can see in the league they’re flying right now and they’ve got a National League South team in my opinion, and we’ll probably be playing against them next season.

“But I always said to myself I’d want to be