MARTINSTOWN captain Sam Kershaw says his side’s bottom-of-the-table clash with Stalbridge tomorrow (1pm) is an important game for them to get 20 points in the Dorset Funeral Plan Premier Division.

Martinstown currently lie one place and 19 points ahead of bottom side Stalbridge, and Kershaw’s side have had a difficult start to the season, with four losses so far with one win away at Shroton.

Kershaw said: “It is a big game, obviously they are bottom, we are second from bottom it is an important to get 20 points to make that gap bigger.

“We had sort of bounced back with the Shroton game, and then it has dropped off with two games against Broadstone and Wimborne but they are two tough games so you can’t really argue with the result I suppose, the better teams won on the day.”

When asked if the table was bearing down on the squad’s mind in the early stage of the season, Kershaw replied: “I don’t think it is bearing down, obviously you want that cushion but it is a long season, but it is important to get those points early to make sure the gap between us and them stays big.”

Kershaw also nodded to the side’s tough run of fixtures at the start of the season, including the likes of Poole Town, Broadstone and last year’s champions Wimborne and Colehill.

“We have had tough games, we have played Poole, Broadstone and Wimborne, Wimborne and Broadstone are the last two winners so it was a tough start to the season.

“Hopefully now we can get a bit of momentum going and take that on to the end of this half of the season, and then the return fixtures against the teams we lost against we can get a win.”

Kershaw himself returns for Martinstown, while Ryan Chase is also back.

Martinstown: Nichols, Williams, Hill, Maltby, Kershaw, Chase, Kane, Camp, Kennedy-Barnard, Durant, Coombs