Dorchester Town will be seeking redemption tonight when they do battle with high-flying Chelmsford City (7.45pm).

Saturday’s dismal show at rock-bottom Thurrock saw the Magpies fall to successive defeats for the first time under Alan Knight.

And the county town boss is eyeing a swift response from his charges.

Looking ahead to this evening’s clash at the Avenue Stadium, Knight said: “The plan is to get back to winning ways and to also get a better performance.

“But I think the lads all want a better performance as well, as they know they underperformed on Saturday.

“That was the first time I have seen them play that poorly and tonight we have a chance to put it right.

“It was disappointing and I was frustrated afterwards but if you dwell on it too much it can eat away at you and I don’t want that to happen.

“You can chuck around all the excuses you like but at the end of the day it’s about us and we were not there on Saturday for whatever reason.

“Tonight we are playing a team that has been in the top five all season and are one of the favourites for promotion, but it will be a good game to go into and will hopefully get us going again.

“I just don’t want the season to peter out.

“The middle third has been fantastic and we don’t want the last third to peter out as it would be a shame.

“I still feel we can have a major influence on what happens in this league.”

While Dorchester enter the game on the back of two defeats, the Clarets are also aiming to get back on track tonight after seeing their promotion bid hit by three straight reversals.

Knight added: “People have chucked those stats at me but my biggest concern is us. Thurrock hadn’t won at home all season but we conspired to shoot ourselves in the foot.

“It’s all about us and hopefully whatever side I put out will give it a go.

“I can live with anything as long as I feel we have given it a go. I’m not criticising the effort on Saturday but we were not at the races and the quality certainly wasn’t there.”

Nick Crittenden and Jamie Gleeson both made welcome returns from injury at the weekend but Jamie Symes (illness) and Rico Wilson (ankle) remain sidelined.

Knight said: “Critts came through unscathed and in an ideal world I wouldn’t have put Glees on at all, but I felt he could change things and for the 15 minutes or so that he played we looked a little bit more like ourselves. However, the game was too far gone.”

The Magpies have yet to defeat City at Blue Square Bet South level, taking just two points from seven meetings thus far.

Magpies (from): Walker-Harris, Jones, Critchell, Bell, Smeeton, Martin, Jermyn, N Walker, S Walker, Nicholls, Gleeson, Dovell, Crittenden, Worsfold, Malsom, Nichols, Carlile.