Dover Athletic assistant manager Mike Sandmann is confident of better times ahead as the rebuild continues at Crabble

Dover Athletic’s players return for pre-season next week, with the management team deliberately leaving room for maneuver as they rebuild the squad.

It’s a summer reset for Dover after relegation to the Isthmian League and assistant boss Mike Sandmann believes the club is now attracting the attention of players who see the potential for better times to come.

Sandmann said: “We’ve had so many boys interested in coming in pre-season, we get calls all the time from agents and people wanting to be part of the club.

“I think people are starting to realize that Dover is a club that has gone into decline in recent years and I think it’s almost a rebuilding project and people want to be part of it.

“A lot happens behind the scenes. Our job is to rebuild this club and I think players see that, some of them are excited to be part of that.

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“We have reached rock bottom and the only way is up.

“Dover is still a huge club and with a number of stadiums and places we go (this season) you can see how big a club like Dover still is. Players realize that the end of last year was actually the end of the decline. It’s about stabilizing and rebuilding.

“What we don’t want is to fill our squad completely and if guys become available, we can’t do anything.

“While we would like to put together a core, and I think we have done that, we also have to be patient and make sure we bring in the right players at the right time.

“We are happy with the guys we have signed so far, the ones who have returned, and there will be one or two more in the coming weeks.

“(We wanted) to make sure we were solid defensively and you can see from the signings we’ve already made that we will be, that’s what we hope to be, and now it’s about adding to that.

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“It started as a player market where players demanded X, Y and Z and you went after players, but I think it’s now reaching a point where it becomes a club market where players go after us.

“There will be guys on trial in the National League, Step 2 and 1, and if it doesn’t work out for them they will become available. As much as we would like to put together a selection early, we are still in June, there is plenty of time.”

Several players have opted to leave this summer, including Bailey Akehurst, who has joined league rivals Chatham.

John Oyenuga and Jacob Mensah have also left, while young midfielder Freddie Oliver has decided to pursue a football scholarship at Tiffin University in Ohio, US.

He backs the club’s blessing with Sandmann, saying: “He’s got a fantastic opportunity in America and it’s something he’s always wanted to do.

“We send him off with our best wishes and he will probably spend pre-season with us to keep fit. He knows that if it doesn’t work out, he has enjoyed his time with us and he is welcome to come back.”

Midfielder Luke Baptiste has agreed to stay, while newcomers include former Whitehawk defensive duo Joe Tennent and Luca Cocoracchio.

There will be strikers coming too, and Sandmann adds: “The strikers are always the ones who become available and sign up late, because any decent striker will have a lot of interest from a lot of clubs.

“Guys might be right there hoping to play as high as they can, but it might not work out for them, so you have to be a bit patient. If we signed all the players that are available to us now, there would be no budget left for the start of pre-season when players become available.”