DORCHESTER boss Mark Morris has told his players that they will underestimate relegation battlers Carshalton Athletic at their peril.

The Magpies travel to the Robins' War Memorial Sports Ground in Surrey tomorrow (3pm) looking for their third win in a row. But Morris says Carshalton are clearly a much better side now than their third-from-bottom league position would suggest.

"At Christmas they were rock bottom and looked dead and buried with only about eight points," he said.

"But since then their new manager Dave Garland has turned things around and they have got some fantastic results lately.

"They've beaten Weymouth and Welling at home and drew with Farnborough and on their form since Christmas they would be a top six side.

Toughest "They've dug themselves out of the bottom two and now they have a realistic chance of survival, so we know we can expect one of our toughest matches of the season up there.

"They are still fighting for their lives and what we will have to do is match their desire to win. If we can do that, we can then hopefully find that little bit of quality to swing things our way."

Morris is likely to start with an unchanged line-up after wins at Yeading and Maidenhead though he says he may have second thoughts if more wet weather makes Carshalton's pitch heavy.

"If it's going to be hard to carry the ball we can't really afford to have two wingers and I may decide to strengthen us up a bit," he explained.

If that is the case, midfield worker Mark Jermyn, outstanding in the reserves' midweek victory over Bournemouth Sports, could well regain the place he lost through suspension.

On-loan Ian Hutchinson, who has yet to start a match for the Magpies, is expected to return to the squad tomorrow following a family bereavement.

With first choice goalkeeper Craig Bradshaw still on the sidelines after chipping his collar bone at the beginning of the month and Mark Ormerod not yet fully recovered after breaking a finger back in January, Morris has been looking for cover in case teenager Nick Jones should get injured.

"It's not been easy finding someone for the last month of the season and I might just have to dive in and sign someone on non-contract forms," he said.

"On the other hand I think we would get special dispensation to sign a goalkeeper after the deadline if things became really desperate," he added.