DORCHESTER Town midfielder Sam Lanahan has labelled the club’s current Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division position as a “strange situation”.

Dorchester presently lie 26 points ahead of second-bottom Dunstable Town – who drew 1-1 at the Avenue Stadium in their previous game – with 10 games remaining.

The Magpies could mathematically beat the drop if they defeat Merthyr Town on Saturday and Dunstable lose away to Tiverton Town.

Such a scenario, with only one team going down, has left Dorchester in relative safety, but Lanahan admits there is still plenty to play for until the end of the season.

He told Echosport: “We seem pretty safe and I can’t see Gosport or Dunstable picking up loads of points.

“It’s a bit of a strange situation because Tommo (Steve Thompson, boss) is able to look at what he wants to do next year. There’s still obviously pride and the boys want to do well.

“There’s a lot who want to stay at the club, they’re playing well for that reason. The boys don’t want to make a fool of themselves – we’re still putting in effort.”

Lanahan, who has made 110 career appearances for the Magpies, also believes that Dorchester “could turn a few heads” next season if the majority of the squad is kept together.

He said: “I really enjoy it at Dorch, I’ve played over 100 games now. I haven’t thought too much about next year. It’s down to Steve and where he wants to go.

“I feel that if we keep the group together we could turn a few heads.

“We’ve lost one in seven at home and if we take that into the away form next season it could be quite a positive season for the club if we can keep people together and add a few.”

With David Jerrard and Phil Ormrod leaving the club in February, Lanahan admits Thompson’s attentions may already have partly turned to the following campaign.

He said: “The decision on Dave and Phil is probably looking to next season. From their point they are looking where they want to be next year.

“Steve is probably thinking who he wants in the squad and where he can manipulate it.

“I haven’t spoken to anyone in the squad about next year yet. It’s such a temporary thing, you never know who could turn up next week.

“We’ve just got to do what we can and leave Steve to do his job.”