DORCHESTER Town manager Steve Thompson is braced for a “really tough game” at Basingstoke Town in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division tonight (7.45pm).

The Magpies picked up a 1-0 victory – their first win of the season – against the Dragons in August courtesy of Ollie Griggs’ header.

With Thompson’s men also set to line-up against tonight’s opponents on Saturday in the FA Trophy first round, the Dorchester manager is full of respect for the Hampshire side.

He told Echosport: “I’ve watched Basingstoke at Weymouth, I thought they were a good team.

“They lost 3-2 about two weeks ago and I thought they played very well and were very unlucky to lose on the night.

“I know it will be a very tough game and they have some dangerous players. We’ve got to play them twice in a week now.”

Both sides come into this game off the back of defeats, with Dorchester having lost 2-0 against Banbury United and Basingstoke suffering a 1-0 defeat at Frome.

And Thompson has been left to rue a number of injuries in the squad, with Rory Fallon, Aaron Rodriguez and Luke Winsper the latest to be sidelined, while Jon Vance, Jamie Beasley and Conor Jevon have all recently left the club.

“Sam Lanahan’s been out for three weeks now and it’s good that he got 15 minutes (on Saturday). We couldn’t risk him any more. In fact I was in two minds as to whether to bring him on incase the curse of the injury came again.

“I’ve not spoken to Emma (Tonkin, physio) on Luke Winsper yet. I’m hopeful that Rory might be fit, it was a pure collision. He’s had a scan, there’s no meniscus damage, no ligament damage. It really is about swelling going down now.

“I’m hopeful about Aaron’s ankle. He felt it a little bit on Tuesday and a little bit on Thursday so we pulled him out of training and he said it felt worse in the warm-up (on Saturday).

“We couldn’t risk it. He wouldn’t have lasted more than five minutes – I could see he was struggling.

“Maybe all three, with a bit of luck or fair wind, will be available to play some part in the game. I’m just hoping that I have as many options available as possible.”

Thompson also revealed more about his attempts to add fresh blood to the Magpies’ squad.

He said: “It’s frustrating. I’ve tried to bring players in from a League club but they don’t really want to step down to this level.

“One’s joined a Conference North team, so that was disappointing, but I do understand that. They want to try and play as high as they can.”

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