ASHLEY Vickers has won his appeal against the red card he received for tackling a streaker in the infamous clash with Havant & Waterlooville.

The Magpies’ player-boss was left “dumbfounded” by his dismissal that night but a regulatory commission of the FA has allowed the appeal and overturned the upcoming suspension.

Vickers hopes to celebrate the news with victory over St Albans City this evening (7.45pm).

He said: “It’s great to see the red card rescinded and I’m very grateful to the club and the FA.”

Meanwhile, after disposing of promotion-chasing Welling at the weekend, Vickers has warned his men not to take tonight’s opponents lightly.

The Saints currently languish at the foot of Blue Square Bet South, but Dorchester’s chief is taking nothing for granted, especially after City defeated Staines on Saturday to end a miserable run of 10 matches without a win.

The 39-year-old, whose county town side sit eight points clear of danger, said: “It’s a big game for us and we’re looking forward to hopefully carrying on from where we left off on Saturday.

“St Albans themselves had a good result against Staines so we need to be respectful of them and approach the game with exactly the right attitude – I’m sure we will.

“They have still got some good players and we will need to negate their strengths.

“They have had problems but adversity can bring the best out of people.

“We just need to have the right mentality. If we work as hard as we have been, defend well and take our chances then I’m sure the result will be positive.

“We want to get away from the lower end of the table and most people would say we don’t deserve to be down there. Let’s hope that happens.”

By the end of Saturday’s lengthy trip to Dover, the Magpies will have played four games in the space of a week – which includes Thursday’s Dorset Senior Cup semi-final with Poole Town.

Vickers is confident his men can cope with the demands, adding: “We played Saturday, we’re playing tonight and we’ve got games on Thursday and Saturday.

“Tonight is the most important game at this moment in time and we’ve just got to get on with it.

“The lads love playing football though, and they can’t get enough of it. The journey back on Saturday was great and there were a lot of happy faces.”

Kyle Critchell remains suspended while James Coutts and Doug Bergqvist are still recovering from hamstring and knee injuries respectively.

Although appearing on the substitutes’ bench at Welling, midfielder Jamie Gleeson is yet to regain full fitness.

Vickers said: “Glees is acting as an extra body as he’s not fully fit and I don’t want to risk him at the moment. He is making good progress though.”

Magpies (from): Coward, Bowles, Smeeton, Martin, Walker, Vickers, Jermyn, Devlin, Gleeson, Connolly, Crittenden, Taylor, Symes, White, Moss, Flood.

* A fans’ forum (6pm) precedes tonight’s match, which again carries free entry for under-16s and Thomas Hardye sixth-form students (with valid ID).

* The visit of Staines on Saturday, March 26 will kick off at 1pm due to the Wales versus England match taking place at 3pm.