WEYMOUTH hope to complete the signing of Havant and Waterlooville skipper Shaun Wilkinson today.

The Terras have agreed a fee with their Hampshire rivals for the 22-year-old midfielder, believed to be in the region of £5,000.

But player-boss Steve Claridge faces a race to get Wilkinson registered in time to make his debut at Cambridge City in the Dr Martens Premier Division tomorrow.

He explained: "We had an initial bid for Shaun turned down but we offered Havant a new bid which they accepted.

"Shaun is keen to join but unfortunately deals can take a while to sort out when transfer fees are involved.

"Some of the paperwork in the deal still needs to be sorted out but I'm hopeful we can complete all the things that need to be done so Shaun can be available tomorrow.

"But having said that, there's no guarantee Shaun will play against Cambridge even if we do get all the paperwork done.

"He hasn't played for Havant for a few weeks because of injury and I'd have a big decision to make whether to start him as he may not be match fit.

"Whatever happens though, I'm confident we've signed a good player who will be a good acquisition for us.

"He's a strong and battling midfielder who will give us another option during a packed programme of fixtures over the last few months of the season."

Claridge's league leaders are boosted tomorrow by the return of influential midfielder Lee Philpott, who made a surprise substitute appearance in the FA Trophy defeat against Altrincham last weekend.

Defender Jamie Impey is likely to be out for another week with a shoulder injury, joining Scott Dennis (hamstring) on the injury list.

"It's nice to have Lee available again because he has been an important player for us this season," he said.

"Lee's hamstring injury took a while to clear up and it may be a case of easing him slowly back into action because he hasn't trained for a while.

"It's going to be another tricky game because we're top of the table and everyone will understandably want to beat us.

"We have a five-point lead over Crawley and the bottom line is the more we keep winning, the more pressure they'll be under.

"I don't think we could have done any more than we did against Altrincham last week, it was just one of those days.

"It would have been good to have had a midweek game to put that defeat behind us but we've got the chance to do that tomorrow."

Meanwhile Claridge said he was looking forward to returning to the city where he had two stints with Nationwide League third division side Cambridge United.

"It'll be nice to go back to Cambridge," he said.

"I spent two and a half years of my life there and made a lot of friends who I'll hopefully meet and share a few memories with after the game."

"My time at Cambridge United was a bit up and down to say the least. Working for manager John Beck was not a nice experience, although we were fairly successful.

"His did not make it easy for you as a player and it's fair to say he used fairly unconventional methods.

"Mind you, the other lads were in the same boat as well. I wasn't a trouble-maker under John, I just didn't agree with what he has doing."