DORCHESTER Town midfielder Tom Blair has praised the impact of manager Craig Laird since his arrival at the club in January.

The Magpies appointed the manager at the beginning of January, and Blair says that he handled the circumstances well.

He said: “For me and a lot of the lads, Craig has had a positive impact. Personally, he has been excellent for me. His man-management is really good, he always talks to me and he’s like that with a lot of the lads.

“With Smeets (captain Jake Smeeton), Jem (former manager Mark Jermyn) and Critts (former assistant manager Nick Crittenden) leaving at the same time it was a massive blow to our squad, so Craig, Heathy (Stuart Heath) and the rest of the squad have dealt with it really well.

“Considering we lost them we’ve done very well to cope, with the players who’ve come into the squad done well and the reserve lads who have come in and done well off the bench. We’ve just dealt with it positively.”

The turnaround under Laird has never been more evident than in the Magpies’ unexpected away victory against Hitchin Town in February, and Blair is confident that his side can get a result if they replicate the performance this afternoon (3pm).

He said: “It wasn’t that long ago since we played them and got a 1-0 win. It was probably our best win of the season because it was a crucial game which we weren’t expecting to get anything from, and I think we just need to do that again.

“We need to be hard to break down. I don’t think it’ll be a pretty game, obviously they’re trying push for that second spot, and we’re trying to get a few more points on the board to secure our safety.

“It’ll be a tough test but if we can do the simple things well I think we can get at least a point from the game.

“When we played them away they weren’t excellent and we could beat them again but we’ve just got to be on top of our game.”