ALAN Knight insists the Magpies cannot afford any slip-ups if they are to keep their play-off hopes alive.

Following almost five weeks without a Blue Square Bet South fixture, results elsewhere have left Dorch-ester Town nine points adrift of the top five.

But with 13 games still to play, starting with tomorrow’s visit of Havant & Waterlooville (3pm), the county town chief remains hopeful.

He is therefore keen to play down the significance of facing the club he left in November in order to take charge at the Avenue Stadium, preferring to focus his energy on leading his new side to a 13th league victory and condemning the Hawks to a fourth successive defeat.

Knight, a former goalkeeping coach at Westleigh Park, told Echosport: “I do not want to get distracted by anything personal.

“They were good to me and I have a lot of time for the people down there.

“People here are trying to make a big thing about it but we have to be focused and concentrate on the fact that it’s our first game for a while and we need to get the points.

“It’s a shame that we are going into it without having played a league match for so long, as tomorrow is a big game for us.

“I don’t want to get sidetracked by my connections to Havant as we need to keep our run going to keep our play-off hopes alive.

“Although other results, in general, haven’t been too bad, the pack above us have pulled away a bit, which doesn’t leave a lot of room for error.

“We’ve got 13 games left and anything can happen. Someone could go on a good run and someone else could falter.

“We just need to stay focused and not worry about anyone else. We can only affect what we do.”

Sam Malsom, who scored in the 2-2 draw with a Ports-mouth XI on Tuesday night, is expected to make his competitive debut for the Magpies.

However, Aldershot loanee Max Worsfold must wait for his chance after limping out of the midweek stalemate with an ankle injury.

Ryan Dovell also found the net against Pompey and he has given Knight plenty to ponder ahead of tomorrow’s clash.

The latter added: “Ryan scored again on Tuesday night and he is giving me a bit of a headache.

“I’ve played him in different positions during the friendlies we’ve had recently but he has been fantastic for us and he is certainly in contention for a starting place.”

Dorchester fielded a full-strength line-up in midweek but also gave a run-out to trialist forward Leighton Speechley-Price.

Knight said: “He’s been having a bit of trial with us. He’s been at Salisbury but he is just coming back from a recent illness and we are having a look at him.”

Magpies (from): Walker-Harris, Jones, Critchell, Smeeton, Martin, N Walker, Jermyn, Nicholls, Glee-son, Dovell, Crittenden, Malsom, Symes, Bell, Wilson, Nichols.