DORCHESTER Town Reserves' boss Rich Robson says his players are playing for a place in his cup semi-final team as they take on Basingstoke Town in the Wyvern Midweek Combination Division this evening (7.45pm).

The Magpies sit four points behind the league leaders, having played a game more and Robson says that the pressure is firmly on Basingstoke not to slip up.

He said: “We’re feeling good. We had a draw last week which was a bit disappointing but it hasn’t affected the atmosphere in the squad, we’re all still very up for this season and this game in particular.

“We’ve got a few squad members playing who featured away at Basingstoke in the cup, and I’m sure they’ll be looking forward to going back to the ground where they had such a good game and hoping that they can do the same thing again.

“It’s business as usual, because the pressure isn’t on us anymore. We just need to try and do what we can. It’s down to the other teams to throw it away so we can just go out and play without very much pressure because it’s only a slim chance that we’ll come out with honours on the league.

“It’s possible (to win the league), but we just need to approach the game like we always do. We have to take our own identity to it and not get distracted, because for us it’s a just a game on the road to the end of the season.”

Next Thursday sees Robson’s side host Petersfield Town in the Wyvern Challenge Cup last-four tie, and Robson has laid out the challenge for his players to earn a place in the team.

He said: “We’ve got a cup semi-final next week and the message going to the players will be that a good performance here with consistency could see them in the side for the semi-final.

“Obviously the players who got us to the semi-final should get rewarded, and those who play in the semi-final, if they win, will be the players who get rewarded with a place for the final. So that’s the message to the team, that if they play well, they can control whether they play in the final tonight.”

Robson also confirmed that Sol Ayunga is set to feature for the reserve team this evening.

Ayunga has been on the fringes of the first team of late, but will be keen to impress having scored a hat-trick on the club’s last visit to Basingstoke in February.

Billy Mitchell, Owen Nicolson and Simon Proffitt are also set to feature, while it will be Sam Pashen’s last game of the season before his suspension begins.