PORTLAND United coach Stuart Heath says the Blues are desperate to bounce back from defeat when they host Lymington Town in the Sydenhams Wessex Premier Division on Saturday (3pm).

The Blues lost 3-2 at home to Horndean last time out, but Heath says they have got something to prove against Lymington.

Heath said: “The game against Horndean was unfortunate for many reasons but one of the things you could not criticise the players for was a lack of commitment or determination.

“We are desperate to bounce back from last Saturday. It is a really important game for us, we know that.”

Portland suffered a 4-2 defeat against Lymington earlier on in the season, in the FA Vase first qualifying round.

Heath said: “They put us out of the FA Vase so we have got something to prove.”

“The main thing is we bounce back from a very rare setback, we had gone unbeaten for a very long time.

“Those runs never last forever and it came to an end last week, good players and good collective teams respond to setbacks. I have got every confidence that the players will do that (tomorrow).”

Heath added: “We have put ourselves in a position in the league where there is a fair bit of pressure on us, in terms of not being in a position where we can drop points at all.”

Darren Watts and Steven Walker return for the Blues, while Ryan McKechnie is suspended.