DORCHESTER Town travel to Chesham United tomorrow (3pm) for the first of nine games this month in all competitions.

But while the Magpies face a hectic October schedule, first-team coach Stuart Heath believes the work they have already put in will serve them well.

A point against Merthyr in midweek lifted Dorchester into the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division play-off places, and they did it without several key players.

Skipper Jake Smeeton remains doubtful for the trip to Buckinghamshire having missed Tuesday’s draw with a fractured finger.

However, Jonah Ayunga is back after a one-game ban and Bradley Tarbuck is set to return following a bout of illness.

Charlie Davis and Lewis Morgan are expected to shake off knocks picked up in the Merthyr stalemate, while Chris Dillon was again being assessed in training last night.

Nathan Walker is definitely out as he serves the second of a three-match suspension.

Heath and the rest of the Dorchester management team are well aware that they don’t have the biggest of squads, but they have plenty of confidence in their charges.

“We’re fifth in the league and we’ve got to take encouragement from that,” said Heath.

“We feel with the squad we’ve got and our fitness that unless injuries play a role we are good enough to be in the top five.

“If we are there or thereabouts come Christmas then we have got to make a real push to stay there.

“We’ve got a small squad but also a good squad and we know that when we can bring in Mark (Jermyn) and Nick (Crittenden), like we did on Tuesday, then we’ve got a chance.

“October is a very busy month for us and the squad will be stretched.

“But that’s where the fitness that we worked so hard on in pre-season, as well as our togetherness and spirit, comes into play.”

He went on to add: “The management team decided well in advance of this season to do homework on other teams but that 80-90% of our time should be focused on what we do.

“We feel we’ve got the players in the squad to cope with everything.

“They are an energetic and committed bunch and when you’ve got those qualities you’ve got every chance, and that’s being shown by where we are in the league table.

“We had something like half a team out on Tuesday but people did step up to the plate in terms of effort.”

Meanwhile, Dorchester’s reserves lost 3-2 at Sholing in the Wyvern Premier Division on Wednesday night.