DORCHESTER Sports’ boss Ashley James expects an epic encounter at Jewson Dorset Premier League rivals Merley Cobham Sports tomorrow (2pm).

James has led his side to 13 consecutive wins in all competitions, while Merley have amassed 12 straight victories of their own.

Dorchester Sports ended Merley’s well-documented 43-game winning streak with a 3-2 win in the reverse fixture last September.

And with Merley placed second and Dorchester Sports third – level on 49 points – the fixture is high-stakes as they seek to keep pace with leaders Ham Rec.

James told Echosport: “It’s two teams bang in form. Whoever plays best on the day will win the game.

READ MORE: Dorchester Sports 6-0 Hamworthy United Reserves - match report

“It’s going to be a great contest, great battle. We’re confident, they’re confident so it should be a great game.

“We beat them last time and now we’ve got them in both semi-finals, the Senior Trophy (and League Cup) so we’re going to be playing them three times in the next few weeks.

“We’re going to get to know each other’s games quite a bit. They’re going to want to beat us. We (ended) their record – it was a lot bigger than our record. They’ll probably want to do the same to us.”

Sports’ centre-back Louis Hankin will be missing for 10 weeks due to RAF training, while Brandon Heal, Billy Brumble and Jamie Quinton are recalled to the squad.