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Tuesday's Blue Square South Preview

AFC Wimbledon will look to leapfrog Chelmsford City into pole position on Tuesday while Maidenhead and Hayes & Yeading will be looking to do the same.

AFC Wimbledon v Havant and W

Terry Brown's AFC Wimbledon trail league leaders Chelmsford by just a single point ahead of Tuesday evening's clash against Havant and Waterlooville.

The Wombles bounced back to winning ways on Saturday with a 4-1 win against Bishop's Stortford and another home win would see them move up to first place in the standings.

However, Brown is still looking for his side to improve and has highlighted the first 15 minutes of the match as a crucial period.

The Dons conceded an early penalty but stormed back to win the match in a convincing manner, thanks to goals from Jon Main (2), Sam Hatton and Danny Kedwell.

Brown told Your Local Guardian: "The only thing that has bothered me this season is the first 15 minutes of games.

"We have conceded too many goals early on and that puts extra pressure on us.

"We made a decision not to play any football for the first 15 minutes of games, just be careful and bed in.

"But that seems to be the period when we are conceding our goals so we will have to look at that."

Meanwhile, the Hawks head into Tuesday's match low on morale after incurring the wrath of manager Shaun Gale for a poor performance on Saturday.

Havant slumped to a disappointing 2-0 defeat at the hands of Worcester City at West Leigh Park on Saturday and Gale called on his players to stand up and be counted.

He told Portsmouth Today: "This has got to stop. We gave away two shocking goals and it was embarrassing.

"You can't win football matches when you give away goals like that.

"If players aren't prepared to do what we ask them to then they are welcome to come and knock on my door and they can leave.

"It is time to stand up and face the music because at home we have been poor.

"We are in a results business and if the players are not up to the task, then we will get others in who are."

Bognor Regis Town v Bromley

Bognor Regis Town play host to Bromley at Nyewood Lane as they look to lift themselves off the foot of the Blue Square South table.

The Rocks were narrowly defeated by St Albans on Saturday and Bognor boss Mick Jenkins had plenty of positives to take from the match.

He told Bognor Today: "We weren't disgraced nor outclassed, and having created four decent chances ourselves, we felt we were unlucky not to come home with some reward.

"But that's been the story of so many games. We've played well enough to draw or win, but have ended up losing.

"The league table doesn't lie and we know we need to start turning decent performances into results - hopefully starting with this game.

"We will go at Bromley and take the game to them. We must take the good things from Saturday's performance into this game and try to add the art of taking our chances."

Jenkins is boosted by the return of skipper Duncan Jupp but midfielder James Archer definitely misses out with an ankle injury.

Defender Matt Hartmann (food poisoning) and striker Elvis Ewruje (ankle) missed the weekend's clash and are still rated doubtful.

Bromley slumped to a defeat at the hands of strugglers Basingstoke Town on Saturday and will undoubtedly be wary of slipping up again on Tuesday.

The Lillywhites now find themselves sitting in 14th place with 15 points.

Braintree Town v Thurrock

Braintree Town will be looking to extend their superb run of form when strugglers Thurrock make the trip to Cressing Road Stadium.

The Iron made a stuttering start to the campaign but a run of winning results recently has seen them move out of the relegation zone and into 15th place with 14 points.

Thurrock have improved in the past month, picking up a rare win on 20th September and then losing their next two league encounters by a narrow margin in each case.

They'll be looking to get back to winning ways on Tuesday evening with a view to lifting themselves out of the drop zone.

Eastleigh v Dorchester

Eastleigh will be looking to get their campaign back on track in midweek when Dorchester Town visit Silverlake Stadium.

The Spitfires have dropped off the pace in their last two league encounters, recording a loss and a defeat.

They now find themselves in eighth place with 21 points from 12 matches, just three points behind Hayes & Yeading, who are in 5th place.

South African defender Warren Goodhind looks set to continue in defence alongside Tom Jordan, as Trevor Challis is currently on the treatment table.

Attacker Jamie Brown stood in for the departed James Baker on Saturday afternoon and could well keep his place in the starting line-up.

Dorchester will have to make do without the services of skipper Roy O'Brien, who suffered a setback in his recovery from an ankle injury that has kept him sidelined for the past two months.

Manager Shaun Brooks told the Dorset Echo: "He's been diagnosed with a bruised bone so it'll be another six to eight weeks until he's playing again.

"We'd like to get him back earlier but we will have to make do, and by-and-large we've been defending okay."

First-choice goalkeeper Gareth Stewart missed Saturday's clash with a case of the flu and Eighteen-year-old goalkeeper Regan Coward is on stand-by to deputise once again.

Brooks added: "Gareth called in the morning with flu. I thought Regan grew in confidence although I don't think he had a save to make.

"I'd have no hesitation putting him in again."

Hampton & Richmond v Maidenhead Utd

Hampton & Richmond Borough will be in good spirits after knocking league leaders Team Bath off the top of the table on Saturday.

The Beavers produced a polished performance to ease past the Scholars, despite missing the services of Orlando Jeffrey, Ian Hodges, Francis Quarm and Graham Harper.

Dean Wells returned from suspension to skipper the Beavers to victory and he is expected to keep his place in the starting line-up.

Stuart Lake suffered a gashed leg 13 minutes into Saturday's clash and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment.

Maidenhead United claimed fourth place in the Blue Square South with a scrappy win over Thurrock at Ship Lane on Saturday afternoon.

The Magpies have played 11 league matches thus far and have amassed an impressive total of 26 points.

They trail league leaders Chelmsford by just one point but have the luxury of two games in hand.

Hayes & Yeading v Fisher Athletic

Fifth-placed Hayes & Yeading play host to strugglers Fisher Athletic at Champion Hill Stadium on Tuesday as they look to cut the gap on league leaders Chelmsford.

Garry Haylock's side trail the leaders by just two points after playing to a six-goal draw against Eastleigh at Silverlake Stadium on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Hayes & Yeading have released left-back Neil Martin who joined the club at the start of the season from Exeter City.

Fisher Athletic find themselves hovering dangerously close to the dreaded drop zone after a narrow defeat to Bath City on Saturday.

The Fish hold a one-point cushion on the relegation places and are in desperate need of a morale-boosting win.

Welling v St Albans

Welling United will be targeting a third consecutive league victory when St Albans City make the trip to Park View Road on Tuesday evening.

The Wings recorded back-to-back wins with a 2-0 victory over Weston-Super-Mare on Saturday, much to the delight of manager Andy Ford.

He told his club's website: "That's two wins back to back and its a great way to come back after the disappointment of the cup game.

"I think it just showed a bit of character in the squad. Two wins and two clean sheets was required.

"Nice to get an early goal, I thought Jerome had a good debut, I have been after him for 6-months and it just gives us another alternative to our forward play.

"Goals is what matters and changes games.

"To be honest in the last half an hour we could have kept the ball better but its in the 18-yard box that it counts and today we had that."

Steve Castle's St Albans will also be targeting more of the same after a narrow win against Bognor Regis Town on Saturday.

The victory moved Castle's side up to 10th place in the Blue Square South and they now boast a total of 17 points from 12 fixtures.

Alex Bailey, Ben Bowditch, Hassan Sulaiman, and James Quilter all missed Saturday's victory due to injury and could well miss out again.

Ryan Frater and Luke Thurlbourne returned from respective injuries in Saturday's win and Castle could be tempted to stick with an unchanged starting line-up.