DORCHESTER boss Mark Morris says he's still considering his team selection options as his side looks to kick-start their season at home to Bishop's Stortford tomorrow.
In the aftermath of Tuesday night's 5-3 defeat by Bognor Regis at the Avenue Stadium Morris hinted that he was considering wholesale changes in a bid to plug the gaps the slick Sussex side exposed in his defence.
But after "working on one or two things" and having a heart-to-heart with his players at last night's training session, the Magpies boss said he has yet to make his mind up about tomorrow's line-up.
"I'm still undecided whether to change it or give the boys a second chance and hope they come up with the right response," said Morris today.
"We looked at different shapes in training and I have to mull it over in my mind and make what I think is the best judgement in order to win us the game.
"There's no panic because I seem to recall we lost three of our first four games last season and still finished eighth. I would be looking for a far better performance defensive-wise than I got on Tuesday but we have had these setbacks before and have always come back firing on all cylinders."
Although he is playing his cards close to his chest, Morris is certain to make at least one change from Tuesday's starting line-up with midfielder Mark Robinson ruled out by the hamstring he tweaked after 38 minutes against Bognor.
The Magpies manager admits the recurring injury is causing some concern.
"There's no doubt he has a problem there which we will have to look at," said Morris. "Even before the injury he only looked as though he was running at three-quarter pace. He did have a little bit of a pull in pre-season and seemed to be expecting something to happen."
With his all-action, play-anywhere man Jamie Brown available for the first time this season following the completion of his two-game ban held over from last season, Morris could hand the former BAT man the job of denying Bishop Stortford space in front of his back four.
That's a role Mark Jermyn, now recovering from a broken jaw, would normally fill and his presence was sorely missed against Bognor who were allowed far too much freedom when they broke quickly out of defence.
Morris has given midfielder Glenn Howes strict orders to "get here on time" after his late arrival on Tuesday forced him to make disruptive changes.
"He was working in London and got held up in traffic," said Morris who named the former Salisbury and Basing-stoke midfielder among his subs and only brought him on for the last ten minutes.
"But he should have made allowances for that and hopefully he will tomorrow if he has to drive down from there again - if not he could find himself playing for a London club!"
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article