DORCHESTER Town winger Sam Bayston believes the Magpies are a sleeping giant at Southern League level.

Bayston, who came in from Wimborne last summer, is stuck on the sidelines due to Dorchester’s ‘non-elite’ status in Step 3 of the National League System.

As a result of the first national lockdown, Dorchester were saved from relegation last season.

And two national shutdowns to supress Covid-19 have interrupted the Magpies’ current campaign, with just seven league fixtures and three cup games completed.

Dorchester beat high-flying Tiverton in the league and Gosport in the FA Trophy before play stopped, leaving Bayston eager to continue the momentum.

Asked whether he thought Dorchester is a sleeping giant, he told Echosport: “Exactly, it is.

“On the back of new signings and what happened last year when the league got voided, it was a case of saying: ‘Right, let’s never let that happen again. Let’s get clear and have a year of stabilisation’.

“We were starting to do that. We had a tough start but picked up some wins, so we were looking on the way up and gelling as a group.

“In future, there’s no reason why we can’t push on, especially with Robbie (Herrera, boss) and Kev (Hodges, assistant) and having an identity.

“That’s one thing I found at Wimborne, under Matty and Danny (Holmes). We’d try and play football and get the odd big result against a big team.

“It’s a case of doing that with Dorch, being a good attacking team that’s going to win games and entertain fans.

“The fanbase is massive and they need to be entertained to get them going and get behind us.”

Bayston is currently halfway through his 200km running challenge in February, raising over £1,000 for Prostate Cancer UK. Donations can be made via this page https://gofund.me/417dcae3