PORTLAND United make the short trip to play Chickerell United in the Dorset Senior League tomorrow at the Stalls (2pm).

The Chickens are enduring a poor season by their standards after winning the league in the last campaign.

Meanwhile, island boss Justin Faulkner still insists that the Chickens will be up for it and will be very tough opponents.

Looking ahead to the game he said: “Chickerell aren’t having the best of seasons, I know they will be disappointed at where they are at the moment.

“That makes our job even harder, there is nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal and with it being a local derby as well.

“So that means we need to prepare well as we usually do and go there with the right mentality while being prepared to work hard.”

Faulkner had his side back in training on Tuesday in a bid to sharpen the players up after the Christmas break.

He added: “We trained during the Christmas break with the first team and I decided we would come back early, working on our fitness on Tuesday along with our regular session on Thursday to get us up to speed and hopefully hit the ground running this year.

“Myself and all the players want to have a real go at climbing the league and we also have a Dorset Senior Trophy semi-final to look forward to.”

Faulkner will have a fully-fit squad to choose from with Adam Linaker likely to be added to the squad that drew away to Corfe Mullen last time out.

Looking ahead to the fixture, Chickens’ chief Steve Coward added: “Two or three years ago they had the same sort of switch over as we now have with young lads coming in.

“They weren’t winning many games but they were doing things the right way by developing youngsters.

“They are now getting the benefits out of them now and are doing quite well.”

He added: “If we get three points it gives us a good start to the new year and that buzz to kick on.”

Striker Josh Why is suspended for the encounter for the Chickens, but Steve Welch was set to be available.