Dorchester Town host Weston-super-Mare tonight (7.45pm) in a dress rehearsal of next week’s FA Cup clash.
The Blue Square Bet South rivals were paired together in yesterday’s second qualifying round draw with the Magpies handed home advantage for the October 1 encounter.
And the two sides will be more than familiar with one another as they do battle at the Avenue Stadium this evening.
Commenting on yesterday’s draw, assistant-manager Phil Simkin said: “The main thing is that we have home advantage.
“When you look at some of the other teams in the draw it’s not the sort of one you hope for but there you go.
“Having gone away to Havant & Waterlooville in last year’s competition we don’t seem to get much luck with cup draws but we have home advantage so we will get on with it.
“At least with us playing each other tonight we will know all about them.
“Having said that, we knocked them out of the FA Trophy last season so both teams know quite a bit about each other already.
“They are a good side and they’ve had a good start to the season. They like to play a certain way but we will look to combat that and impose our own game.
“They lost at home to Chelmsford on Saturday but from what I understand they had a few missing, so it’ll be interesting to see how they line up tonight.”
Saturday also saw the Magpies’ two-match winning run brought to an end at Basingstoke, with the 10 men of Dorchester losing out 1-0.
Simkin added: “Although Saturday was unfortunate, we’ve been on a fairly good run. To play with 10 men for an hour away from home, it’s almost impossible to get something.
“Gary Bowles’ sending off killed us but we still performed well and we were disappointed not to get something.
“But we look forward to tonight’s game now and we’ll look to get a result because three points can move you up the table very quickly.”
After failing to make the match-day squad at the weekend, it is unclear whether Portsmouth loanee Lewis Tallack will be involved this evening.
Speaking yesterday, Simkin said: “Ashley Vickers and I will discuss it but he’s trained with us once already and looks very comfortable on the ball.
“The squad should be more or less the same as the weekend. Ben Dickenson was back from holiday and he came on for the last half-hour, and he gives us a different dimension with his pace.”
Magpies (from): Jordan, Walker-Harris, Critchell, Martin, Bell, Tallack, Bowles, N Walker, Dovell, Gleeson, Nicholls, Crittenden, Devlin, Symes, Dickenson, Moss, Flood, Wilson.
* Ticket prices for Friday’s sportsman’s dinner with John Hartson and Jimmy Case (8pm) have been reduced to £20.
The price of admission also includes a three-course meal.
To book a ticket, or find out more information, contact the club on 01305 262451 or email
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