BRENDON King will assess the fitness of defensive duo Sam Poole and Barry McConnell ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup tie at Totton & Eling.

The Weymouth pair sustained knocks on Tuesday night in the six-goal thriller with AFC Totton, and their manager is keen to see them turn out in Hampshire this weekend as the Terras begin their quest in the most famous of domestic cup competitions.

King said: “Sam came off with a knock on his ankle and Barry McConnell also picked up a knock, which isn’t ideal ahead of Saturday.

“I know a lot of teams are in the same boat but playing a game in midweek before an FA Cup tie is far from ideal. But we have just got to get on with it.”

Weymouth twice fought back from a goal behind to register a draw against last season’s play-off finalists.

And King admits a point apiece was perhaps the fairest outcome – despite his side missing a penalty and striking the woodwork.

He added: “I said beforehand it had the hallmarks of a cracking game and I wasn’t far off. It was definitely one for the neutrals and the fans certainly got their money’s worth.

“Unfortunately we didn’t win the game but we got a point against a decent side who reached the play-offs last season.

“We missed a penalty and we hit the bar but did we do enough to win the game? Maybe we did, maybe we didn’t – I’m not sure, maybe a draw was a fair result.


“I was disappointed with the goals we conceded but you can’t legislate for mistakes.


“The goals we scored were well worked but we gave them two of their goals.


“The third goal wasn’t a bad goal and sometimes you have to hold your hand up and say fair play, but the first two were avoidable. We know what we have got to do and where we have got to put it right.

“But again, we showed good character when we were 1-0 down and then 3-2 down. We asked for a response at half-time and we got one in the second half.
 

“We didn’t lose the game and from our first six games we have only lost once. The foundations are there, we just need to build on them.”