Derby clashed moved... Deans up for cup again

The Reds have not staged a home game for nearly three months due to drainage problems in one corner of their Cams Alders pitch.

The number of successive postponements is now in double figures and there were doubts over whether the pitch would be dry enough again to stage the game.

The Royals, who thrashed Cowes Sports 5-1 at the weekend, will be looking to exploit their opponents’ lack of games.

‘Fareham have not played for a while but we cannot afford to let that distract us,’ said Rix.

‘The important thing for us is to keep winning and stay in touch with the leaders.

‘Being a local derby, form can often go out the window.

‘Steve Stone will have his team well organised and hard to beat.

‘If we don’t approach it correctly we can easily come unstuck.

‘Though we had a good win over Cowes, we know that we can improve on our second-half performance.’

Rix has the luxury of a full-strength squad to choose from, which includes recent arrivals Steve Ramsey and Dave Birmingham.

Horndean travel to Totton & Eling in a bid to resolve their Hampshire Senior Cup tie (7.45pm).

The fixture has already been postponed six times due to the weather.

Craig Pearce is looking for his team to bounce back to winning ways following their disappointing 2-1 league defeat at Alresford Town on Saturday.

‘We want to win the tie and earn ourselves a crack at Basingstoke Town in the quarter-finals of the competition,’ said Pearce.

‘It would be great to test ourselves against a team playing at a much higher level.’

Pearce has to do without Josh Maloney, Ryan Thomas and George Callard, who are all cup-tied.

Matt Burt is ready to return after finally serving his one-match ban, and the experienced figure of Ian Humble is available again following a hamstring problem.

Central-defender Tom Chapman is a doubt for Moneyfields as they host Otterbourne in the Russell-Cotes Cup at Dover Road (7.45pm).

Chapman came off with a groin strain in the 3-2 defeat at Team Solent.