PORTLAND United boss Brendon King urged his in-form Blues side to be “ruthless” against Lymington Town in their Sydenhams Wessex Premier Division clash tonight (7.45pm).

King has overseen a remarkable run of 10 games unbeaten, stretching back to a 7-1 loss against Poole Town in the Dorset Senior Cup.

During that time, Portland have won nine of those matches and occupy second place, 10 points behind pacesetters Sholing.

However, after missing several chances to add more goals to a 4-2 victory over Bemerton Heath Harlequins, King has issued a call to avenge a 4-2 FA Vase loss to Lymington in August.

He told Echosport: “It’s another tough one, it’ll be the third on the bounce away from home, but it is what it is.

“We’ve got to go there and be ruthless again, they’re another side that can beat anyone on their day. They beat us in the FA Vase earlier in the season and we didn’t play particularly well.

“We’ll be going there looking for a little bit of vengeance.”

With Lymington having warmed up for the meeting with a 2-0 loss at Christchurch, King is wary of a Linnets’ side who he feels will be “licking their wounds”.

He said: “They’re going to be looking at us thinking ‘they’re second in the league, they’re playing well, 10 on the bounce they haven’t lost’.

“They’re not going to fancy it too much. They lost to Christchurch so they’ll be licking their wounds.

“It’s another away game. Again, we’ve got to respect that fact. They’ve got some good forward players so we’re going to have to be at our best again.”

Portland gave Ed Bastick, Shaun Bessant, Alex Godfrey, Aston Butcher and Billy Mitchell valuable game time in the Blues’ reserves’ 0-0 draw with Balti Sports in the Dorset Premier League.

King hinted those players could make a return to the first XI matchday squad, while Steven Walker is available after a spell out.