Four times we’ve undertaken the long trip to Dover, the most distant domestic opponents in our history, and have only returned unbeaten once. That happy occasion was in February 2017, and even then the point we earned came about in rather fortunate circumstances. We were trailing 1-0 with ten minutes left when a deflection in the goalmouth hit Jordan White on the backside and ricocheted into the net to earn us a draw!

Last season we went to Dover on the second Saturday of the season and were smothered by Athletic’s man-to-man marking. A drab affair was settled by an 18^th minute goal, after Scott Boden had missed a couple of close range chances. The return match followed a similar pattern as we failed to penetrate Dover’s organised defence in a goalless draw.

Here are the highlights from our previous clashes with Dover:

It would be great if Ricketts could get off to a winning start, as we haven’t enjoyed a win in our last eight seven games. The last team we beat on our own patch was Guiseley, where we went top after goals from Chris Holroyd and Shaun Pearson secured victory on Nicky Deverdics’ Wrexham debut.

Here’s my column from last week’s Leader. It forms part of the paper’s comprehensive pre-match coverage every Friday, featuring interviews, an in-depth look at the opposition and lots of statistical analysis. All content in the column (c) www.leaderlive.co.uk.