Blue Square South play-off preview

Hampton & Richmond will make the trip to Champion Hill to face Fisher Athletic while Braintree Town will hope to scupper Eastbourne Borough in the Blue Square South play-offs.

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Fisher v Hampton & Richmond

It is crunch time for Fisher Athletic and Hampton & Richmond as they enter the first-leg of the play-off semi-finals at Champion Hill Stadium on Tuesday.

The hosts have peaked at the right time - winning five out of their last six clashes which included a tough encounter against top-five hopefuls Newport County.

Meanwhile, the Beavers have maintained a consistent run of form through the season to guarantee a play-off spot and ran rampant against champions Lewes - hitting them for an unanswered six goals.

The fixtures been the sides this season have been quite entertaining, with Fisher winning the first encounter at the Beaveree Stadium 2-0, while Hampton came back to win 3-0 at Champion Hill.

And home boss Wayne Burnett is expecting a tough test. He told the club's official website: "We're fully aware that Hampton represent tough opposition but you have to expect that when you reach this level of competition.

"We beat them comfortably at their place and they beat us comfortably at ours - I predict a very tight game on Tuesday tonight, it will be close - may the best team win!"

Braintree Town v Eastbourne Borough

A familiar sight will greet the Cressing Road faithful as Eastbourne Borough will travel to face off against Braintree Town for the second time in a week.

The Iron have only managed one win in the last six games - ironically against the under-strength visitors - on Saturday to clinch the final play-off place.

And Lee Patterson will be looking for a repeat performance from his charges, but admits it will a tougher challenge in the semi-final first leg.

He told Braintree and Witham Times: "We now host Eastbourne again on Tuesday night and I am sure this will be an even tougher game as they will have one or two different players on view."

The hosts will be without Lee Burns, which Patterson feels is a big blow, but he is counting on the home support to see his side through.

"Losing Lee Burns is a big blow as his workrate and enthusiasm will be missed, but we will cope as we have when losing key players in the past.

"The support on Saturday was once again terrific and I hope it will be the same again on Tuesday night."

Meanwhile, the visitors top scorer and player-of-the-season Andy Atkin returns from suspension and will provide a big boost to manager Garry Wilson's plans.

Wilson told The Argus: "Everything's positive. We will have a full strength squad and go to Braintree again tomorrow in good spirits despite losing to them on Saturday "We're not concerned about the defeat. If we had been bothered I wouldn't have rested three or four key players.

"We treated it as a dress rehearsal and I was quite pleased with the performance. We could have scored quite a few and limited them. Their goal came from a deflected shot.

"A draw away from home in the first leg would be a great result for us but we will be going for the win."

Pat Harding, skipper Paul Armstrong and Nathan Crabb will all return to the starting line-up after being rested against the Iron on Saturday.