DORCHESTER Town boss Steve Thompson admits he will be assessing both the Magpies’ 3G pitch and his players against a Plymouth Argyle XI at the Avenue Stadium tonight (7.30pm).

Dorchester are set to play their first-ever game on the highly-anticipated new 3G pitch and welcome a Pilgrims development side for their third game of pre-season.

The fixture represents a step up in calibre of opposition after respective 2-0 and 3-1 victories over Saltash United and Portland United, leading Thompson to look forward to the occasion.

He told Echosport: “It’s against a great club in Plymouth Argyle so we’re really looking forward to opening the new pitch.

“For me as a manager I’m obviously going to be taking notice of everything with the new pitch and seeing how it is in the warm-up.

“But also it’s part of our plan for pre-season with the games we play and it’s all about game time again.

“We have to soon start thinking about players getting 90 minutes, whether that’s (tonight) or the one after, we’ll have to wait and see.”

The Magpies are set to be without Aaron Rodriguez (broken foot) and Ollie Griggs for the clash, with Thompson confirming the latter has had two operations on an ankle infection.

He said: “It’s a bit of a mystery, he’s picked up an infection in his body that’s gone down into the ankle, it’s worrying. They don’t know how he’s picked up the infection, whether it’s a bite or a medical thing.

“He’s had to have two operations, which is worrying for the lad and his family but obviously not great for us because he’s one of our contracted players.

“But what can you do? That’s what’s happened and we’ll be guided by the doctors.

“We’ve got Aaron who’s broken his foot as well, which is a big blow, but that’s football for you. We’ve had two kicks where it hurts in the last three weeks.”

Meanwhile, Thompson praised the Magpies’ local youngsters after the 3-1 win at Portland, and again highlighted the club’s striker predicament.

He said: “It’s still a concern that we haven’t really got that central striker. Obviously we’ve got Ash (Pope), but to ask an 18-year-old to lead the line all the time, every minute of every game, is asking a lot.

“We do need someone up there, there’s no doubt about that. Some of the young boys did well, I thought Josh Williams did well in the second half.

“He’s a boy that’s been released by Exeter, he’s just 17, and Ben Morris scored another goal, he played for our reserves last year.

“It was nice to see those local boys with Josh being a Weymouth boy and Ben being a Dorchester boy, doing well. Overall I was pleased with the effort.”