PORTLAND United manager Simon Browne feels the FA’s decision to hold the rearranged FA Vase first round tie with Horndean at Grove Corner tonight (7.45pm) may have an “adverse effect” on attendance.

Having cancelled the original Saturday slot due to high winds produced by Storm Brian, both the Blues and Horndean agreed on a switch to Saturday, October 28 for fulfilment of the fixture.

But the FA have now blocked that move, forcing a midweek encounter.

Speaking to Echosport about the situation, Blues’ boss Simon Browne said: “We have had enough midweek games not to let it knock us out of our stride.

“We’ll go into the game with the same preparation as Saturday and see if we can get a positive result.

“With it being a midweek game it will probably have an adverse effect of the gate with Weymouth playing.

“But it is what it is, there’s no point in bleating on about it. We have got to get ready for the game.”

And Browne insisted the decision to cancel Saturday’s game was the “right decision”.

He said: “The winds on Saturday were very strong and it would have been farcical if we had even attempted to play the game with Horndean coming from the other side of Portsmouth.

“It only needed a bit of debris on the pitch to risk the players' safety. We don’t want to put ourselves in that position.

“It was the right decision to cancel the game. It’s a shame we couldn’t have had it this coming weekend but we’ll try and get through to the next round.”

Portland welcome back Alex Godfrey to the fold but will be without Ryan McKechnie due to work commitments.

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