ASSISTANT-MANAGER Paul Maitland admits that recent good form will see Weymouth as favourites for the trip to Basingstoke Town in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division tonight (7.45pm).
The Terras are on a run of form of four wins and one defeat, a 3-0 loss away to Slough, in their last five games, which has seen them rise up to second in the table.
Maitland said: “They are a decent side but we will obviously go there favourites because of recent results and where we are in the league.
“We will have a responsibility to go there and be positive and try and get something out of the game.
“We need to keep pace with the pack, obviously last Saturday was a bit of a learning curve for us at Slough as well as they were a really good side.”
The Terras’ last match saw the return of top goalscorer Brandon Goodship, who started on the bench but came on in the 75th minute.
Maitland admitted his return was a boost before praising his efforts: “He’s done an incredible amount of work to get himself back quicker than we anticipated.”
As for whether he will play tonight, Maitland said that Goodship will be assessed ahead of the encounter.
Stephane Zubar also returned to the club having left for Yeovil in the summer and got 78 minutes before going off for Toby Down.
Talking about Zubar’s return Maitland said: “He is a hugely popular figure here, particularly in the changing room.
“The lads were excited to see him on Thursday at training and we are over the moon to have him back.”
Zubar said: “I just wanted to be part of it, there is a massive difference between last season and now.
“More staff, more discipline and I think you can see on the table where we are. You can see it on the pitch, the lads enjoy it.”
The last match between the two sides saw the Terras win 3-2 at home in the league with goals from Brandon Goodship, Ben Thomson and Calvin Brooks.
Maitland said: “I thought they were very impressive when they came here in the early part of the season, the way they played on the break and made it very, very difficult for us.
“We were fortunate probably to win that game here.”
Still Maitland isn’t taking their opponents lightly, saying: “Without a doubt it will be another difficult game but one we will look forward to.”
Basingstoke are currently in 16th with 23 points and are on a difficult run of form in the league with one win in their last four matches.
