DORCHESTER Town boss Glenn Howes remains upbeat over the Magpies’ relegation fight, insisting survival is “in our hands”.

Howes watched on as Merthyr Town secured a 3-1 victory over Dorchester on Saturday – only their third win of the league season.

Three points elevated Merthyr off the foot of the table at Wimborne’s expense but some Dorchester fans have labelled the performance as one of the worst in recent times.

And Dorchester will stew over the result for two weeks in total due to a gap in their schedule this Saturday.

It means Dorchester will have extra preparation time for a titanic clash on Saturday, March 19 with Kings Langley, who sit one point above the Dorset side in the final safe position.

READ MORE: Glenn Howes rues Dorchester's inconsistency

Speaking to Dorchester’s media team, Howes also revealed the “silence” in the dressing room after defeat to Merthyr.

“We haven’t exchanged too many words, in all honesty,” he said.

“There was a huge amount of silence around the dressing room.

“We’ll review it, be more conservative with our approach and give some detail and some good words that’s going to help us turn this around.

“You can’t shy away from the magnitude of fixtures that are over the horizon. We’ll take stock and hopefully the players will.

“There’s all to play for. We’re not in a fantastic position but we still believe it’s in our hands. It’s up to us to do something about it.”

Elsewhere, Dorchester have rearranged the postponed Farnborough game for Tuesday, March 22 (7.45pm). The original tie was axed due to Storm Eunice.