DORCHESTER Town boss Steve Thompson believes the Magpies’ Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division tussle with promotion-chasing Slough Town tomorrow (3pm) will provide a good indication as to the scale of their recent improvement.

Thompson’s men suffered a comprehensive 2-0 defeat at Slough in December on a 3G pitch, with the Magpies’ manager admitting the result was lenient on his side.

But with Dorchester currently on a run of form that has seen them obtain 10 points from their last six games, Thompson is keen to see how his side fare against the Rebels at the Avenue Stadium.

He told Echosport: “It will be a good test because if any team beat us comfortably it was them. It was only 2-0 but they controlled the game.

“It will be a good test for the lads to see how far they’ve come – it could easily have been 5-0 up there.”

Dorchester travelled to eighth-place Tiverton Town on Tuesday and collected a 0-0 draw, adding to Saturday’s 2-1 win over St Ives that banished a winless away league run stretching back to mid-September.

Thompson said: “I think we’ll need to play with the control and threat that we’ve had in the last couple of games.

“I was more pleased with the (Tiverton) performance than the win against St Ives because we were up against a better team.

“We can’t get promotion but I’m delighted with the win against St Ives because we needed that after such a long time without one.”

The Magpies could leap into 16th if results go their way, and Thompson is eyeing a “positive result” from the club’s final home game of the season.

He said: “I do feel we have given our fans a lot of positivity over the course of the season at home and I think it would be nice to finish with a positive result.

“I’m not really looking at (positions). It’s more about performance. I don’t think we’ll get an extra million for it like in the Premier League.”

Ross Carmichael could be in contention to start following a bout of asthma attacks, but Luke Winsper is doubtful with an ankle injury.

Thompson said: “Ross couldn’t play 90 minutes but it was nice to have him on the bench (at Tiverton). To be fair the defence coped pretty well.

“I’m sure he’ll be available. I think (Winsper) is a possibility but by no means certain.”