PORTLAND United interim boss Gary Bailey feels it is a “massive ask” to fulfil nine fixtures in three weeks ahead of the visit of Brockenhurst to the Weyline Stadium tomorrow (3pm).

The Blues do have a quieter Sydenhams Wessex Premier Division run-in than other teams, with some still 11 games away from finishing, but Bailey described the rush to fit games in as a “disadvantage” to everyone concerned.

He told Echosport: “You’re talking about nine games in three weeks and we’re not in the worst situation as some teams in our league.

“I just think after such a long season to try and compress a quarter of it into the last three weeks puts everyone at such a disadvantage.

“We’ve got lads with families and then the bank holiday. At the end of the day it’s a semi-amateur league, it’s a massive ask for everybody.”

Bailey is wary of Brockenhurst, who are undefeated in five games, winning three of them, and hopes to continue the momentum picked up from the Blues’ 4-0 win over Cowes Sports last time out.

“Obviously with teams around us in a congested mid-table it’s important that we put in a good performance and get good results against teams in the middle areas.

“Brockenhurst are on a good run, they’ve got a good group of lads up there and it will be a tough test. A lot of teams are well capable of beating each other. We had a good win against Cowes, it was a good performance and we got the clean sheet which we were delighted about.”

Robinson Okumu and Ryan McKechnie are unavailable, but Ross Doidge (hamstring) and Alex Godfrey (ankle) have trained and may return.