PORTLAND United boss Brendon King remains respectful of Sydenhams Wessex Premier Division rivals AFC Portchester ahead of their clash at the Crest Finance Stadium tomorrow (3pm).

Prior to the opening day of the season, King tipped the Royals to feature prominently at the top of the table.

Despite the Hampshire side hovering in ninth place in the standings, and having beaten the Fareham outfit 5-3 in the League Cup last December, King refused to take the opposition for granted.

He told Echosport: “They’ve got some useful players and a very experienced manager. It’s going to be hard, and when we played them in the cup we beat them.

“When I was chatting to them they’re planning on next season now. In terms of that it’s always a difficult to go. Hopefully the weather is good and we can get a game on.”

Portland are looking to return to winning ways after two successive losses and a stream of postponed matches.

King said: “We just want to carry on and try and get a run of games together. We try and go out to win every game if we can. I want us to go out there with a smile and enjoy it, more than anything else.

“We’ve had a little blip, with two losses, so we need to put that behind us and move on.”

Defenders Sam Buckler and Crit Clarke plus midfielders Ross Doidge and Max Buckler are in line to return. Ryan McKechnie serves the second of a three-game ban, while Tom Richardson (knee) will be assessed.