PORTLAND United boss Brendon King is looking for “payback” when the Blues host Bournemouth Poppies in Sydenhams Wessex Premier Division action at the Weyline Stadium tomorrow (3pm).

In August, Poppies beat King’s men 2-1 at Victoria Park in just the second game of the league campaign.

Portland have since risen to fourth following three successive wins, while Poppies lie in ninth having taken just one other victory.

And now King, whose former Hamworthy United colleague Ben Scott passed away in midweek, is fully focused on earning a further three points.

He told Echosport: “It’s going to be a tough game, they beat us earlier in the season. They were well worth their win.

“I think we’re in a better place than we were back then and we’re looking for a bit of payback to show that we’re better than what we were.

“It’s nice to play at home after four games on the bounce away and hopefully we can put on a good performance and get a few there.”

After the previous defeat, King has plenty of respect for Bournemouth and spoke of their resilience.

He said: “They’ve got some good players. They’ve recruited quite well in the summer and got some decent players in.

“We’ve had some tough games lately, especially away from home – this is another one. It’s really important we take some confidence from the last three results we’ve had.

“We’re aware of what they bring to the table and they’re a side that carry on going and work really hard for each other. It should be a good game.”

Ross Doidge returns from a hamstring injury but Alex Halloran and Lewis Clarke remain out.

Meanwhile, Portland United Reserves face a difficult trip to an in-form Parley Sports in the Dorset Premier League tomorrow (3pm).

Parley find themselves in good form, winning three of the last four games, the only blot on the copy book being a draw against Corfe Castle who were beaten by the Blues 4-3 last time out.

The Blues come in to the game having won two on the bounce for the first time this season and occupy a mid-table spot.

Looking ahead to the game Portland United Reserves’ manager Justin Faulkner, said: “As always we will be approaching this game knowing it will be another difficult task for us, they are a good proven DPL side with bags of experience.

“If you look at their results you can see they traditionally cause upsets against the top sides down the years which shows they do have quality, so there will not be any chance we will take them lightly.” There have been some funny results in the league this season with everyone being able to beat anyone which makes it tight, we sit 10th and Parley sit fourth just three points ahead of us!

“I`m happy with where we are at but we can`t rest on our laurels, we need to go out consistently and test ourselves.

“Myself and Steve Spearing always challenge the players to be better and want to be better, we still have areas where we can improve and we will be working hard to improve.”