BOSS Steve Claridge wants Weymouth to let their football do the talking when they host Merthyr Tydfil tomorrow, 3pm.

The Terras player-manager saw his side miss out on top spot in the Dr Martens Premier Division after bruising Bath City grabbed an unlikely point from an explosive midweek clash.

Weymouth threw away a two-goal lead after defender Mark Kenway's petulant sending off early in the second half.

But Claridge is urging his charges to forget about that battle and bounce back to winning ways against the Welshmen at the Wessex Stadium.

He told Echosport: "Mark's actions were stupid, which he knows, and he will be given a big fine for reacting the way he did.

"He has been absolutely mortified all week over what

happened. That one incident spoiled the night but we should be able to rise above things like that.

"The match was physical and the referees at this level need to be stronger, but we can't respond like Mark did. We need to match challenges and should Merthyr play in a similar way, we need to stand up and be counted.

"In an ideal world, we'd love to play attractive, passing football all the time but when teams fly into challenges we need to give as good as we get.

"It is up to us tomorrow to not let Merthyr upset our rhythm and instead continue to play the type of football we did in the opening half an hour against Bath."

Claridge, who took a clattering from Bath defenders during the fiery encounter, said he feared opposing players are targeting him.

"I've taken strong tackles throughout my career so I'm certainly no shrinking violet. But a couple of the tackles the other night were dangerous, I thought challenges like those had gone out of the game 20 years ago.

"But in situations like that, the referee should take action. The rules are the same at every level of the game and I hope the officials tomorrow are not so weak."

Midfielder Ian Hutchinson (ankle) and striker Lee Phillips (knee) are both expected to miss out through injury while Simon Browne is suspended after his red card against Nuneaton on August 23.

"I'd ideally prefer to play a 4-4-2 system because we looked stronger but I'm still chewing over a few options. Whichever way I decide

for us to go, we have enough

quality in the side to beat Merthyr and continue our good start," he said.