STUART Heath has warned the rest of the Dorset Premier League that Portland won’t be giving up their crown without a fight.

Heath has had to deal with the loss of several key players from last year’s title winning team but remains confident that his new-look squad can prove the doubters wrong. The Blues begin the defence of their title at home to Blandford United tomorrow (3pm) and Heath has challenged his side to use the game as a way of sending out a message to the rest of the league.

He said: “We are looking forward to trying to prove a few people wrong.

“We have been written off by everyone really. We've lost a few players but the 14 or 15 lads who are here are really keen to try to prove people wrong and make sure we at least have a good season.”

Heath added: “We are ready and the players have looked a little bit sharper in training recently. We have got a few knocks from pre-season but we are ready to go.

“We beat Blandford twice last season but they are always pretty solid. We are not worried much about them, we are worried about what our team can do.”

Portland will draft new signing Jeb Gay into a squad that remains otherwise unchanged from Tuesday’s pre-season victory over youthful Dorchester Town XI.

Blues (from): Cox, Dailey, Conning, Lambert, Perkins, Walker, Borthwick, Godfrey, Biles, Halloran, Gay, Whyton, White, Price, Skelton.