MAGPIES' defender Ryan Hill is on the road to recovery and hopes to be back in contention for a starting place in the next couple of weeks.

The 21-year-old is nearing full fitness and featured in a behind closed doors friendly win over Bournemouth Youth on Thursday, his first taste of match action since suffering a setback in his rehabilitation.

He told Echosport: "I've been out for around nine weeks now with an ankle injury that came close to rupturing the ligaments.

"I thought I was fit and played in a friendly game a while back, but that just made it worse, I guess I tried to come back too soon.

"I've been training for the past week or so now and got the full 90 minutes against Bournemouth Youth. I'm getting fitter each day and I hope to be available for selection in a couple of weeks."

The former Millwall, Wimbledon and Weymouth man knows it will be tough to get past the likes of Jamie Cumming and Nathan Peprah-Annan to claim the right-back spot, but Hill would not want it any other way.

He added: "The competition in the squad is very healthy and as a player you appreciate it because it makes you work even harder to get into the team. You will also become more consistent to make sure you keep your place.

"It's been frustrating to watch from the stands and see the team struggle in some games. But I'm focused now on getting fully fit and back out on the pitch."

Dorchester's last match saw them overturn a 2-0 deficit to beat Eastleigh 3-2 in the Setanta Shield last Tuesday night.

A victory which Hill believes can change the complexion of their season. He said: "It was a good game for us to win, we all spoke about it in training the day after and we talked about the passion and heart that everyone played with. It's something that has maybe been lacking in our previous performances.

"Ability-wise we are underachieving but the majority of us are all young lads and it's a learning curve for some.

"A few weeks back we had about seven or eight players injured and we were struggling in defence, number-wise, and midfield, but now most of the injured players are on their way back and we are close to full strength.

"Hopefully we can now kick on because how Shaun is working with the squad is the right way and it is only a matter of time before we start picking up results."