BOSS Tom Killick is asking his Poole Town players to show more fight ahead of their crucial National South clash with fellow strugglers Concord Rangers tomorrow.

Dolphins were shocked by Gloucester City on Saturday, the Tigers triumphing 3-0 at the Black Gold Stadium. And Killick has to make do with a depleted squad for the home clash with Concord after his injury list lengthened.

Rangers occupy the final relegation spot and sit just two points behind Poole so victory would give Killick's charges some vital breathing space.

Killick told the Daily Echo: “We have to get into the mindset that we are fighting for our lives. We have been for a while now, so there’s no point beating about the bush.

“No matter if it’s Concord at home or Havant away, it has to always be the same mindset. It has to be apparent from watching the game that the players are fighting for their lives.

“We’ve spoken together as a group. The players can’t control the finances of the club or the personnel, but they have to show they are fighting every minute of every game.

"It wasn’t clear on Saturday but it needs to be clear against Concord.”

Killick will be hoping Poole suffer no further injury scares prior to the Halloween fixture after Corby Moore (knee) and Will Spetch (ankle) joined the list of walking wounded.

The boss said: “Will and Corby will definitely miss out. Jake Smeeton won’t play and he has to have a scan, while Shaun Cooper and Richard Gillespie are unlikely to be available.

"Richard and Shaun might be ready for Saturday but even that is a doubt.

“We’re at a stage where we can’t afford to lose senior players but I’m going to have to resort to throwing youngsters in at the deep end, which is not ideal.”

When asked if he would look to the loan market to bolster his squad, Killick said: “I’m not too keen to bring more players in on loan because, at the moment, the only loan players available are youngsters starting their careers and we need more senior players with experience.”

Poole have enjoyed more success on their travels in recent weeks but Killick kept his cards close to his chest over whether he would adopt a counter-attacking style at home.

He added: “I’ll take responsibility for the way we set up on Saturday – there was no clear idea of what we were supposed to do, it was a bit wishy-washy.

"How we set up against Concord is something I’ve had to think about since Saturday.”

Dolphins: (from) Hutchings, Lindsay, Spetch, Whisken, Pettefer, Devlin, Neale, Harfield, Bedford, Mayes, Bentley, Wright, Balmer, Dickson, Rees.