Saturday's Blue Square South preview

Leaders Lewes will want to extend their two-point lead over Eastbourne Bourough when they face St Albans who kept their survival hopes alives with a convincing 4-0 win over Basingstoke.

Check out all the weekend's odds here.

Basingstoke v Braintree Town

Basingstoke will be looking to bounce back after their 4-1 defeat at the hands of relegation threatened St. Albans when they host Braintree Town at Camrose.

Dragons manager Francis Vines resigned on Monday after the board decided it was best for the Hampshire based club. The club also released goalkeeper Chris Tardiff due to financial problems and hopefully the departures will not disrupt the Stoke's campaign.

Braintree Town beat bottom of the table Sutton Utd 1-0 last weekend and will be looking to produce more of the same.

The Iron have lost the services of strike pair Alex Revell to League One outfit Southend and the club's record signing Leon Archer, who have both been placed on the transfer list.

Bishop's Stortford v Bromley

Bishop's Stortford have lost the services of attacker Jack Midson for an undisclosed fee to Blue Square Premier side Histon.

However, Martin Hayes' side will be aiming to continue their winning ways after beating Havant and Waterloovile 2-1 away and are currently seventh on the Blue Square South standings on 54 points.

Bromley will be hoping foward Omari Coleman continue his goalscoring form after scoring a brace against Welling last weekend.

The Ravens have also appointed Simon Osborn as their new player-manager. Del Parnham will continue in his assistant-manager role while Bobby Bowry will remain player-coach.

The Lillywhites' chairman Jeremy Dolke admits he had not hesitation in appointing the trio on a full-time basis after their impressive stint.

Dolke told the club's website: "I have been very impressed with the way that Simon, Del and Bobby have handled things since the sudden departure of Mark Goldberg and am I'm delighted to make their positions permanent.

"They have shown great application to the job at hand and produced some impressive performances from the side, notably at Cambridge City and Bognor Regis Town as well as the memorable Boxing Day win over Thurrock.

"I have every confidence that they will continue to take the Club in the right direction."

Cambridge City v Bognor Regis Town

After Cambridge's 5-2 hiding from Thurrock last weekend, manager Gary Roberts has boosted his squad by signing prolific striker Drew Roberts from Hemel Hemstead.

The Lilywhites will be eager to climb the standings and are currently lying 15th and face Bognor Regis Town at the City Ground.

The Rocks managed a 0-0 draw with Dorchester but will be aiming to get much needed points to move up from their 17th place.

Dorchester v Maidenhead Utd

Dorchester will be hoping to go one better against Maidenhead Utd after drawing 0-0 with Bognor Regis Town last Saturday.

Town's assistant manager Paul Compton believes that the Magpies solid results of late have been boosted by the return of Director of football Shaun Brooks.

"With Shaun taking training on a regular basis now I think it's no coincidence that we are getting better results," Compton told the Dorset Echo.

"And it's all credit to Shaun because the proof is in the pudding.

"I think the lads were a bit wayward before because they had different people taking training, and with me only being part-time it has been a difficult period.

"However, we've got that stability back now and we are looking solid at the back.

Maidenhead Utd will be licking their wounds after losing 5-0 at home to Eastleigh.

United manager Johnson Hippolyte has switched goalkeepers signing Chris Tardif and releasing current no. 1 Louis Wells in an attempt to tighten their weak defence.

Eastleigh v Hayes & Yeading

Eastleigh will be brimming with confidence after their 5-0 annihilation over Maidenhead Utd.

The result sees them at the third spot on the Blue Square South standings on 58 points. The Spitfires face 13th placed Hayes & Yeading at the Silverlake Stadium on Saturday.

United will be wanting to turn things around after their 3-1 defeat at home to Newport County.

Fisher Athletic v Bath City

Fisher Athletic are still reeling after their 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Eastbourne Bourough last week.

The Martyrs, who are ninth on the Blue Square South standings host sixth place Bath City on Saturday. Earlier this week, The Fish quashed rumours that striker Jeff Goulding will be leaving the club.

Bath City were handed a double blow to their hopes of gaining promotion to the Blue Square Premier with confirmation that Scott Rogers and Scott Partridge are out for the rest of the season.

Rogers suffered an ankle injury in the 0-0 draw at Hampton & Richmond on Tuesday night while Partridge has cancelled his contract with The Stripes to spend time with his ill mother.

And the City mentor John Relish could be without another key member of his squad after Paul Evans' pregnant wife was taken to hospital.

Relish said: "It's blow after blow at the moment, but two of those problems are of a personal nature and our thoughts are with the players concerned.

"When it's your family involved, then that comes first, second and third.

"Football will be here next season and the season after that.

Hampton & Richmond v Havant and Waterlooville

Hampton & Richmond manager Alan Devonshire is urging his charges to draw inspiration from last season's positive promotion experiences and earn a Blue Square South play-off place. They face Havant and Waterlooville at Beveree Stadium on Saturday.

The Beavers suffered a major blow to their confidence after relinquishing a two-goal lead against Weston-super-Mare to draw 2-2 on Saturday.

The Hampton boss told Your Local Guardian: "We are just going to see how we go and take one game at a time.

"That is what we did last year when we got promoted so we will stick to the same game plan this year and see where it gets us.

"We are in there at the minute and if you had offered me at the start of the season to be where we are now, I would have bitten your hand off."

The Hawks will want to improve from their 2-1 loss at home to Bishop's Stortford. Shaun Gale's side are currently in 11th place on the Blue Square South table and have collected 51 points from 31 fixtures.

Lewes v St Albans

Lewes have coaxed Charlton's reserve team manger Mark Kinsella out of retirement and lured him to the Dripping Pan.

Kinsella was handed his debut against Braintree on Tuesday night but The Rooks suffered an embarrasing 3-0 defeat at Cressing Road.

The Blue Square South leaders can expect another tought test when 20th placed St Albans make the trip this weekend.

The Saints recorded an impressive 4-1 win against Basingstoke for their second successive week.

Manager Steve Castle will be relying on Paul Bruce who scored a brace to continue in their quest for Blue Square South salvation.

City will be without James Fisher who twisted his right ankle in training on Thursday. The right back has made an excellent impression during his short time with The Friars.

Newport County v Thurrock

Peter Beadle will be looking to steer his Newport County squad to a second consecutive victory on Saturday when Thurrock travel to Newport Stadium.

The Exiles convincingly won Hayes & Yeading 3-1 away and would want a repeat again this week.

Thurrock will draw inspiration from their 5-2 win over Cambridge City. Hakan Ramis Hayrettin's side are currently in 12th position on 46 points.

Check out all the weekend's odds here.

Sutton Utd v Eastbourne Borough

Sutton will want to improve after their 1-0 defeat at the hands of Braintree Town as the next two Saturdays at Gander Green Lane will also have an impact on what appears now to be a Sussex-based two-way contest for the championship and automatic promotion to Blue Square Premier.

United are rooted at the bottom of the Blue Square standings with 20 points and face second placed Eastbourne Borough this weekend.

The U's have signed defender James Whisken from Basingstoke Town who previously played for AFC Bournemouth and Farnborough Town.

Eastbourne will be hoping to close the two point gap on Blue Square South leaders Lewes. Garry Wilson's troops are stepping in the right direction after beating Fisher Athletic 4-0 last weekend and will be looking to extend their winning run.

Welling v Weston-Super-Mare

Welling boss Andy Ford has signed goalkeeper Steve Williams from Sittingbourne and midfielder Daniel Nwanze. Both will be available for Saturday's clash against Weston-S-Mare.

Welling head into the weekend's fixture after losing 2-0 to Bromley. Elliot Bent is unlikely to feature again this season after picking up a knee injury plus Jamie Turner's three-match ban starts Saturday.

Weston-S-Mare will consider themselves lucky after Welsh striker Lewis Powell scored in stoppage time to draw 2-2 with Hampton & Richmond much to the delight of manager Tony Ricketts.

The Seagulls are in 18th placed on 31 points.