BOSS Matty Holmes backed Wimborne Town to have enough fire in the belly to continue their strong start to the new campaign.

The Magpies sit second in Southern South & West with four wins and a draw from their opening six league matches.

A shock FA Cup exit to Alresford two weeks ago resulted in Wimborne kicking their heels this weekend but after a bright training session, Holmes backed his boys to keep pushing on.

Holmes told the Daily Echo: “We have faced a lot of the teams I would expect to be up there so our start has pleasantly surprised me.

“You always have a pattern of play to put in place and for the lads to take that on board so quickly is great.

“On Saturday, we asked them what they wanted to do from here. Are we going to rest on our laurels or believe we can compete against the better teams?

“Everyone was keen to get across how much they want to kick on and that was pleasing because players can slip into a bit of a comfort zone.”

Holmes has snapped up 19-year-old right-back and summer target Ben Walker from Dorchester but is set to lose defender Declan Randall who wants more first-team football.

Taylor Leonard is set to dual-register elsewhere in a bid to gain game time with Bashley his likely destination.

On Walker’s arrival, Holmes added: “Ben is young but has a good understanding of the game. He loves to get forward and is a decent defender too.

“He had not been playing much so we put in an approach which Dorchester kindly waived and now we have our man.”