DORCHESTER Town boss Leigh Robinson believes his Magpies’ team could be playing much-fancied Weston-super-Mare at a good time.

Robinson’s men get their Pitching In Southern Premier South campaign started with a daunting assignment against the Seagulls – a team tipped to challenge for promotion.

Dorchester welcome Weston to the Avenue Stadium tomorrow (3pm) having deliberately chosen a series of challenging friendlies against higher-ranked sides.

And Robinson insists his new-look Magpies can mix it with the expected big teams this season.

He told Echosport: “(Weston) are going to be one of the top sides in the league.

“Sometimes as a manager you prefer to play the top teams early because they may not have hit their straps early and are still gelling.

“In an ideal world, you might want an easier fixture on paper for the first game. Sometimes you can catch the top teams cold.

“No doubt, they’re massive favourites for the game and with the resources and squad they’ve got rightly so.

“For us, there’s seven or eight sides in the league that are hands down better than us.

“Hopefully on the day we can bridge that gap with sheer endeavour and enthusiasm. It’s probably the other 13 I’m happy we’re as good as that we can get some points and improve from.

“Certainly Weston are in that top category, so no doubts it’s going to be a tough fixture.”

Asked whether Robinson knows his best side after the pre-season block, he replied: “I’ve got a very good idea of the best starting 11.

“I’m happy to admit we’re still a work in progress. I’m not going to sit here now and say we know the formation and 11 – I’d be worried if we did because we’re such a new team.

“We do still need to find the best formation. The good thing is we’ve still got options, quite a few boys who can play in a couple of positions.

“There was so much work to do to improve the team from last season. There are some things we’ve fixed, but still a lot to go.

“All the stuff that needed fixing cannot possibly happen in the space of a six-week pre-season.

“You can see there’s definitely more fitness, dynamism and legs in the team. Purely through lack of time together we haven’t gelled.

“That will come through playing games together and a better understanding of each other’s game.

“I’m happy the signs are better than they were when we came in last season.

“I’m not going to kid anyone, we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

Charlie Madden (hamstring) should be fit to face his former club, while Tom Blair, Josiah Dunstan and Emile Ngoy are all expected to be in contention after minor knocks.