BOSS Tom Killick revealed Jake Smeeton could be in line for a return to the Poole Town squad in the coming weeks.

The experienced defender has been sidelined with a chest injury sustained in training earlier this season.

His most recent appearance for Dolphins came in their 2-0 FA Cup triumph at Southern League West Salisbury in mid-September.

But with Smeeton having received an injection to aid the problem, Killick is hopeful the former Dorchester Town man could add to his 11 appearances this campaign.

Speaking ahead of Poole's home clash with Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday (3pm), Killick told the Daily Echo: “At the time we thought he might be out for a couple of weeks but it turned out to be a long-term problem.

“The consultant who has been dealing with him said it was quite a severe injury. He had an injection on Monday and we are hoping that will be the final piece of the jigsaw in terms of his recovery.

“Until he starts getting involved we won’t really know, so there is still an element of doubt but it is looking more positive.

“We won’t really be able to assess it until he has been properly involved in training.

“In a pressure situation and an environment when you are desperately scrapping for points, he is just the sort of person to have around.”

Defender Michael Walker is back in training and inching closer to a return from a serious knee injury.

Killick also confirmed he had retained the services of Bristol Rovers loan pair Mo Baghdadi and Jordan Williams for another month.

“The squad is looking a lot stronger than it was two or three weeks ago," he said.

"It’s almost the first time this season where I have had selection problems and I think that is always a positive thing.

“In terms of fit and available players, we are in a much improved position than we have been.”

Managed by former Cherries boss Lee Bradbury, the Hawks are third in National South following their promotion as champions of the Isthmian League Premier Division last season.

“They are fighting it out at the top end and deserve an awful lot of credit for that,” Killick added.

“When you look at the strength and the ability of their squad and couple it with momentum and confidence of having been promoted last season, it doesn’t surprise me that they are where they are.

“It should be a really good contest because we are in good form ourselves. We have only taken very small steps but we are in a much better place than we were a month ago.

“We have improved our position but are still far from safe, so we have to keep grinding away.”

Unbeaten in three, Dolphins are 18th in the table, one point above the bottom three.

Dolphins: (from) Hutchings, Williams, Lindsay, Spetch, Whisken, Moore, Baghdadi, Bedford, Pettefer, Bentley, Brooks, Gillespie, Balmer, Rees, Devlin.