BRIDPORT go into the weekend having not played a first-team fixture in four weeks due to the weather, and it is straight back into the deep end for Adam Fricker’s side as they travel to top-of-the-table Bristol Manor Farm on Saturday(3pm).

Despite the extended break aiding in the quest to get his players fit, Fricker has said that going that long without a game is “frustrating.

He said: “The lads just want to play football. They’re frustrated and we just hope we can get a game on Saturday so we can start kicking on again really.

“We managed to have a training game last week with the reserves which was good because we certainly needed to do something and thankfully everyone came through that okay.

“It’ll be a very tough game. They’re top of the league for a reason and are a very good side. We were very unfortunate not to take something off them at our place, to be honest, we played very well until we went down to 10 men so we’ll go up there confident.

“We have the players to hurt them so we will take a positive approach into the game and just see what we can get out of it.”

Fricker confirmed that the weekend’s only absentee will be Leigh Bailey who is unavailable due to work commitments, while Ryan Hayter is set to return meaning the Bridport boss will have an almost fully fit squad to choose from.

But with a Tuesday night match at home to Gillingham Town around the corner, Fricker has said they will need to be cautious.

He said: “It’s something we need to be aware of. After not playing for such a long period of time is does take your muscles a little longer to recover so we may need look at what we do on Saturday and what we do on Tuesday with that in mind.

“The plan is to get over the line on Saturday and then assess everyone Sunday morning and make a decision from there on what we’ll do against Gillingham.

“Hopefully we can keep everyone fit going into the rest of the season to get some consistency in the squad.”