Reaction from Dover Athletic manager Mitch Brundle after Whites stay in National League South on goal difference

Mitch Brundle is planning big changes at Dover after the relief of avoiding relegation on the final day of the season.

Whites lost 2-0 to Weymouth but stayed up on goal difference at Dulwich Hamlet’s expense.

News of Hamlet’s 1-0 defeat by Chippenham filtered through, shortly before the final whistle at Crabble.

Weymouth started the day in the bottom four but a third straight win secured their safety, with Whites stumbling over the line after taking only four points from their final 11 games.

Staying up was ultimately all that mattered but boss Brundle said: “They’ve done a great escape and ours is not a great escape - it’s just a disappointing end to the season.

“We didn’t do it. That’s got to be clarified. We didn’t stay up - Chippenham did us a favour because we didn’t win our game.

“We could have won this game and then it’s down to us.

“We didn’t have that in us but it’s irrelevant.

“It’s relief, not happiness, because I’m still disappointed we got into this position in the first place.

“But we’ve done what we set out to do when I took the job.

“It was just about staying in the league because we weren’t fighting for anything at the top.

“We didn’t have a big enough, or good enough, personnel but I’m delighted for all those players because no matter whether they can do it on the pitch, I’ve still got a soft spot for all of them.

“I still love them all to bits, they’re my players that I took over with, that I played with.

“I’m friends with a lot of them, so I’m delighted they haven’t got a relegation on their CV, especially these young kids.

“It’s hard to come back from a relegation as a player. Some mangers will take it, some won’t but it’s tough out there.

“The football world is dog eat dog, there’s a lot of players