CHRIS Shephard and Mark Molesley are set to return to the Terras’ squad as Weymouth head to South Wales to take on Merthyr Town tomorrow (3pm).
Both are expected to be named in the travelling party having recovered from illness and a calf injury respectively.
Jason Matthews’ men, buoyed by their FA Trophy victory over Winchester last Friday, go into the clash with the Martyrs just two points behind league leaders Poole Town.
But with the Dolphins having lost at Penydarren Park in trophy action last weekend, Matthews knows his side are in for a stern challenge against the team that currently sits 14th in the table.
The Terras’ player-manager told Echosport: “We have done a lot of homework on Merthyr.
“I have watched them once and had someone go to watch them recently.
“I’ve always thought they were a good side and they are going to be hard to beat on their own patch.
“To have two of my flair players (Shephard and Molesley) back will be a really big boost.
“We need to keep racking up the points and staying up there with the top sides.
“It’s a really tight league this year.”
Jake Wannell (hamstring) and George Rigg (ankle) are still rated as 50-50 for the game and one man will not feature in the Terras’ squad is winger Cameron Brown, who came in as cover at Frome Town last week.
“At the moment there is no room in our squad for Cameron,” Matthews said.
“We thank him for helping us out at Frome.”
The Weymouth boss is also looking forward to seeing how his side fares on the third generation artificial pitch at Merthyr – but he insists it will not faze his charges.
“Personally, it will be my first competitive game on a 3G surface so it should be interesting,” he added.
“We train on the 3G at Redlands and you get slightly different types.
“It should suit our passing game and there can be no complaints about the surface.
“It’s a new experience and we look forward to going there. It’s up to us to go there and stamp our authority on the game.”
Hosts Merthyr, who also have former Swansea City star Guillem Bauzà in their ranks, are in good form in the league having won their last three games and scored eight times in the process.
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