ASHLEY Vickers admits the recent adverse weather may force him to field his strongest side in tonight’s Dorset Senior Cup clash with Poole Borough (7.45pm) – providing the Magpies can avoid a fourth successive postponement.

The county competition is often a chance to impress for fringe players and under-18s but Vickers’ side have gone 16 days without a competitive fixture and the Dorchester Town boss is keen to shake off the cobwebs.

First and foremost, the 38-year-old is praying the quarter-final tie gets the green light.

He said: “Hopefully we’ll get the game on, if not then we’ll train hard and go from there. Fingers crossed it will be on but it was minus three on Sunday night so I’m assuming the pitch is still frozen.

“We need game time in order to get some rustiness out of us but that’s been the same for every team of late.”

Asked what sort of line-up can be expected, Vickers replied: “We will play our strongest XI possible.

“Saturday’s FA Trophy game with St Albans is a priority so we need to make sure we are fully prepared for that.

“If we have to play our strongest team tonight then that’s what we’ll do. I want to get as many people on the pitch as possible but the recent postponements have changed the dynamics completely.”

This evening’s opponents reside five tiers below the Blue Square Bet South Magpies and have this season suffered defeat at the likes of Holt United and Chickerell United.

Of the Magna Dorset Premier League outfit, Vickers said: “I have no idea about them to be honest. They play further down the pyramid but I’m sure they will come for a game and enjoy playing at the stadium.

“It will bring the best out of them so we have to approach the game in the right way and be professional.

“The lads trained ever so hard on Saturday, we had a really positive session.

“Hopefully tonight’s game will go ahead and we can get the result we want.”

Vickers revealed in Saturday’s Echosport that he was considering offering a new contract to striker Rico Wilson.

The county town chief added: “It’s still ongoing but nothing has been signed yet.”

Magpies (from): Evans, Coward, Critchell, Martin, Smeeton, Bowles, Walker, Frampton, Ford, Jermyn, Gleeson, Coutts, Nodwell, Crittenden Devlin, Moss, Mudge, Wilson.