WEYMOUTH Reserves and Portland United will vie for a place in the last four of the Magna Dorset Premier League Cup tomorrow (1.30pm).

The local rivals are set to face-off at the Bob Lucas Stadium in a quarter-final tie, with the winners meeting either Holt United or Sherborne Town Reserves at the next stage.

On the opening day of the season, Weymouth and Portland – both of whom reside in the top three of the table – played out a goalless draw at Grove Corner.

And Terras’ boss Mark Carter, whose troops saw a two-goal lead vanish in stoppage-time at Poole Borough last weekend, is expecting a similarly nip-and-tuck affair on home soil tomorrow.

Previewing the encounter, he told Echosport: “I’m expecting a tight match. Stuart Heath has got a well-drilled unit and I’m sure they’ll be looking to get one over on us.

“It’s a derby so that will add some spice to it, as will the fact that everybody knows one another. But we will make sure we approach the game in the right way and treat it like any other.

“We have got a few ex-Portland players with Joe Charles, Lewis Whyton, Sam Clarke and Richard Marshallsay, so they are desperate to play.

“Lewis is off the crutches now after damaging his ankle in training. As you can imagine, he really wants to be involved, but we will have to assess him before we make a final decision.”

Carter added: “It would be nice for the boys to win some silverware as that could only build their confidence, but first we need to get past Portland.”

Carter revealed that former Hornets’ player Joe Toghill is cup-tied and set to be replaced by Ryan McKechnie, but Lewis Ironside has recovered sufficiently from a bout of flu to feature.

Meanwhile, opposing manager Stuart Heath believes this competition represents Portland’s sole remaining chance to win a trophy this season.

The Blues are third in the league standings – directly below Wey-mouth – but Heath has admitted defeat in the title race, which means that tomorrow assumes added significance for his side.

He said: “Realistically, this is our last chance of silverware and we will be doing all we can to get through to the semi-finals.

“The league positions suggest we are underdogs, which is no bad thing. We will go there confident we can play well and get a good result.

“Weymouth have a squad that should be good enough to win the league. But we have good players ourselves and we believe we can come away with a victory.

“Our players are young but they are well aware how important this game is for us in regards to our season. It should be a good spectacle for those watching, with some good local players on show.”

Heath is able to include Dan Welch, Ashley Wells, Liam Miles and Adam Linaker in his squad, all of whom missed last weekend’s 3-2 defeat of Cranborne.

Terras (from): Weeks, Robinson, Poole, Clarke, J Charles, Litherland, Reiffer, Marshallsay, White, Conning, McKechnie, Whyton, Kimber, Taylor, Ironside.

Blues (from): Carroll, Wells, Welch, Austin, Greatrex, Anstey, Cranny, Miles, Pattison, Coggins, Smith, Godfrey, Etherington, Linaker, Batchelor, Churchill, Boatswain.