PORTLAND United manager Brendon King admitted he would have preferred to play Sydenhams Wessex Premier Division rivals Horndean when the Blues are “more settled”.

King will oversee the Blues at the Weyline Stadium tomorrow (3pm) and is full of respect for Horndean, who finished second in the table last term, going on to beat Dorchester Town 1-0 in pre-season.

Speaking to Echosport, King said: “I’d have liked to have played them a bit further down the line when we’re a little bit more settled and we’ve got 15 games under our belts. They’ve recruited well in the summer and they’re going to be one of the favourites in the league for sure.

“I think they’ve got aspirations of going up, have got a good management team and have some good players. It’s going to be really tough.

“If we finish above them this season, we’d have had a really good season – we’ve got quite a few young lads we’re trying to bring through.

“We’ve got to get that mix right. For us, we’ve got to think of the security of the football club in the future, look after some of these lads and play them.”

Talking up his side’s chances, King said: “We’ve just got to try and do the good things we’ve been working on in training and pre-season and hopefully it all comes through.

“There’s a long way to go – you don’t win the league in August. We want to be up there with teams like Horndean, Portchester and Hamworthy that seem to be quite strong.”

Sean Stewart (suspension), Ed Bastick and Josh Williams may return but Jamie Beasley (groin) and Shaun Bessant (knee and ankle) are doubts.