DORCHESTER Town boss Steve Thompson is “encouraged” by the Magpies' home form ahead of the visit of Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division title favourites Hereford to the Avenue Stadium tomorrow (3pm).

Thompson’s men have scored 15 unanswered goals at home since Hitchin scored the last of their four in a 4-1 win over Dorchester in early December.

Since that defeat, the Magpies have gone on to record four successive wins and clean sheets but face a Bulls side that lie three points off top spot with four games in hand.

Speaking to Echosport about the encounter, Thompson feels his side will need to perform better than during their recent wins to take points from the Hereford clash.

He said: “I have to be encouraged by the home form. I do think we’ll need to play better than we did against Redditch and Tiverton to beat them, hopefully we can.

“Those were good wins but we ground the Redditch one out. We’ll need to play well to even hope of getting a result.

“They’ve got John Mills and Keyon Reffell, who’s very quick. They’re good all over the place, that’s why they’re flying high.

“They’re very well supported, so it will be a good day. Hopefully they’ll bring 500 which will bring a bit of money to our club.”

Thompson was also thankful for the fast turnaround between games as he looks to erase the Magpies’ 2-0 defeat at Slough Town on Tuesday night from the memory.

He said: “It’s a tough game but it’s good to get back playing again after you’ve produced a really poor performance, we’ll try and put it right.

“There’s always pressure for players to do well but there’s no pressure in terms of relegation. We were so disappointed at Slough.

“We had a lovely surface and got nowhere near (winning). It’s not the result that concerns me it’s the performance.

“I can live with being beaten but it’s hard when you’ve produced such a tepid performance.”

Dorchester have injury doubts over Luke Winsper and Phil Ormrod for the fixture, but should welcome back Antonio Diaz after the winger played 20 minutes of Bournemouth’s 3-0 FA Youth Cup loss to Tottenham on Tuesday night.

“The big concern is Luke because he came off injured in the first half. I don’t think he’ll be fit, I’ll be amazed if he is.

“Antonio will be available again but I’m going to have to have a chat with Emma (Tonkin, physio) about Phil,” he said.