PORTLAND United have pledged to attack US Portsmouth in search of a hat-trick of Velocity Wessex League Premier Division wins tomorrow (3pm).

Kyle Critchell’s side have already banked successive wins over Christchurch and Bournemouth Poppies.

And, after the midweek postponement against leaders Shaftesbury, they now go into the weekend looking for a third straight win over bottom-six opposition.

Critchell also made no secret of his desire to lock up another three points as Portland, in seventh, persist with a play-off push.

He told Echosport: “We have to be realistic about picking points up.

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“This is a game we think we can win and a game we’re going, as we normally do, to attack.

“We’re going to work really hard on our patterns of play and our attacking movements so that, hopefully come Saturday, we can put in a very good performance and get those three points.”

Portland are still living the high of their last-minute winner against Poppies.

“That plays a factor into it as well,” Critchell said. “Even though we didn’t play on Tuesday, we managed to get a training facility at late notice.

“That just continues to build momentum and team resilience. Coming into Saturday, we couldn’t be any more confident.

“We know it’s going to be a tricky game. US Portsmouth have stayed in a lot of games up until late, so they’re very resilient.

“We need to make sure we try and score an early goal to settle us down. We’ve been that team where the team goes away from home and they’re struggling.

“They’re going to want to stay in the game and if we can get out and attack them as early as we can, I think that’ll be to the benefit of us and the credit of the game, definitely.”

Crit Clarke and Ryan McKechnie are unavailable, while George Stuttle (illness) is a doubt, giving Portland a potential headache at left-back. Greg Borthwick (groin) also misses out.

On the left-back worries, Critchell added: “We’ve got a fantastic squad and Connor (Callow’s) versatility over the last year has been really important.

“When the door shuts for other people, another opens. We’re excited about that and, with Macca missing as well, it gives an opportunity to experiment in that area.”