BALTI Sports will hope to play only their sixth match of 2024 when they entertain old rivals Dorchester Sports at Weymouth College tomorrow (3pm).

Marco Nott’s men have not played since Saturday, February 3 when Westland Sports claimed a 4-2 victory at Cranford Avenue.

And Balti are chomping at the bit to return to the pitch, even resorting to sending out players such as Matty Chambers and Aston Butcher on dual-registration to keep them fit.

Speaking to Echosport, Nott said: “It’s a month now that we haven’t played.

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“We’ve got more games than pretty much anybody still to play, so we’re going to have fixtures thick and fast.

“It’s a derby to get our teeth into, we’ve had good numbers at training and we’ve got a fairly big squad. The derbies are always the games I look forward to most in the season.”

Quizzed on any concerns about Balti’s lack of match sharpness, Nott replied: “I am slightly.

“It’s not just the four-week period. We are undercooked but I’ve encouraged them all to dual-sign and play elsewhere.

“It’s not like lads aren’t getting any minutes under their belt, it’s just a shame we as a club haven’t played.

“They’re all young and fit, so I’m not worried. It’s almost like a reset for us and we can attack the last 11 games. There’s no better way to start than this Saturday.”

For their county town counterparts, the chance of back-to-back wins is on offer following a 3-0 defeat of Swanage last Saturday.

Manager Ashley James said: “Fingers crossed we get the game on. It’s a tough place to go and our reserves said the pitch isn’t in the best condition down there.

“Whether the game goes on or not it’s going to be a difficult surface to play on. We’re going to have to adjust, it’s going to be a physical battle like it always is and hopefully we come out on top.”

James is also not fooled by Balti’s lack of games, adding: “They’ll be fresh, eager to get out there.

“On derby day, I don’t think it matters whether they’ve played 10 games in the last few weeks, they’d still be ready to go. It should be a good game.

“Take the game to them, that’s what we try to do. Sometimes it doesn’t work but the gameplan will be similar. We’ll try to put them under some pressure.”

Derek Wall, Fin Jarvis and Carl McClements all return for Balti, while Dan Sheehy and Callum Streamer miss out for Dorchester Sports.