DORCHESTER captain James Dunham anticipates rivals Bere Regis will attempt to disrupt their Dorset Funeral Plan Premier League title ambitions at the Rec tomorrow (1pm).

Dunham’s side top the standings with a 12-point lead over Poole Town heading into the final four games of the season.

In the reverse fixture, Dorchester skittled their opponents for 92 but Dunham believes Bere, who are virtually safe from relegation in eighth, have nothing to lose.

He told Echosport: “There’s going to be no side in this league that wouldn’t want to stop a team winning the league.

“I guess Bere will be looking to do that – they’re safe and not going to be relegated now.

“They’re going to want to finish the season on a high and they’d love beating us at our place.

“But we just need to focus on ourselves rather what they want out of the game. It’s ours to win, so we’ve got to focus on that.”

However, the county town team were rocked in midweek after the theft of sheets strapped on their pitch covers which have yet to be found.

Dunham said: “It’s so frustrating, two of the covers have been taken.

“It’s not just the financial cost – Jim (Ryall, player and groundsman) has put a lot of effort into making a really good ground. We’re trying to get county cricket for next year.

“I don’t understand it but we’ll make the best out of a difficult situation and we’ll pull through.

“With four games left it’s very difficult to get covers in for the rest of the season. I’m sure we’ll work our way around it as we’ve got other sheets.

“But you’re looking at a good £200 per cover which is money that doesn’t just appear.”

Meanwhile, Bere captain Rich Cole is set to experiment with his side in the face of limited availability.

He said: “We’re not able to put out our best team so it may be a case of seeing how many points we can keep Dorchester at bay from and make them work really hard to get their points.

“Obviously with the pressure off, we can relax a little bit and try a few different things.”

Bere are forced into five changes as Rich Payne, Nick White, Sam Goodhew, Crispin Brown and Tristan Gale make way for the returning Cole, Rob Murphy, David Griffiths, Oliver Mayo and Harry Green.

Dorchester make just one change as Dan Morris drops to the second team, with batsman David Proctor set to make his first-team debut.

Dorchester: Ryall, Owens, Roe, Mitchem, Belt, Peak, Richardson, Proctor, Walklett, Barrett, Dunham

Bere: Rich Cole, M King, Murphy, Lambert, Goodhew, Griffiths, Mayo, Green, Moore, E Woodhouse, Keegan