Hawks aim to extend unbeaten away National League South record at FA Cup giant-killers Chippenham

Paul Doswell’s National League South high-fliers have won five and drawn two of their seven away league fixtures so far in 2022/23.

They have only lost once - at last season’s champions Maidstone - in their last 14 away league games stretching back to last February.

On paper, they will start favourites in Tuesday’s trip to Wiltshire with the hosts having only banked two points from their last seven NLS games.

But Doswell knows football is never that simple. After all, top two Ebbsfleet (at home to Tonbridge) and Dartford (at Farnborough) both suffered surprise NLS losses at the weekend.

And, of course, Chippenham stunned Pompey’s League One rivals Lincoln City 1-0 in the FA Cup first round earlier this month.

‘They had a fantastic result in the cup,’ said Doswell. ‘Traditionally, Chippenham are good at home. There’s not usually many goals in their games, this will be a tight affair.’

Chippenham have not won in the league since beating Dulwich 2-1 in late September. In contrast, Hawks’ 5-1 home win over Hamlet at the weekend was their 12th in 17 NLS fixtures.

Doswell is expected to name an unchanged squad for the trip to Hardenhuish.

Right-back Josh Passley was replaced by Benny Read against Dulwich after suffering a hamstring injury that could sideline him for several weeks.

On loan Sutton keeper Brad House made his debut against Dulwich, with Ross Worner facing up to three months out with a knee injury suffered while taking a goal kick against Ebbsfleet.

House - recommended to Doswell by player coach Jamie Collins - is on a three-month loan. Though Sutton have a recall option, Hawks are hoping they won’t use it.

Midfielder Paul Rooney is another three weeks away from rejoining the squad, but centre half Sam Magri is back after three games on loan at Gosport Borough. Magri is expected to start next Saturday’s FA Trophy tie at Welling United but won’t feature at Chippenham.

‘With the injuries we’ve had, the group have done brilliantly,’ said Doswell. ‘We haven’t had two or three-week injuries, they’ve been 8-10-12 weeks. And they have been to players who would be first team regulars.

‘Joash Nembhard (centre half) has been another massive loss, he was attracting attention of League 1 and League 2 clubs.

‘It’s crucial Mo Faal, James Roberts and Billy Clifford stay fit. Billy’s been in the form of his life these past few weeks.

‘Robbo is looking like the player we signed, by his own admission he struggled with confidence last year.’

Roberts took his NLS tally to nine with a double against Dulwich, while Faal’s strike was also his ninth in the league. The pair are two of the top four scorers in the division.

As has been the case in recent weeks, Doswell will again look to get a 90-minute performance out of central strike pair Jason Prior and Danny Wright at Chippenham.

Both are still not 100 per cent fit, with Wright coming on for Prior after an hour against Dulwich and netting twice in the last five minutes.

Moving forward, and in order to allow Jake McCarthy to return to midfield - he has been deployed in central defence alongside skipper Joe Oastler - Hawks could look to see if they could get a combined 90 minutes out of Collins and Magri while the latter builds up his match fitness.

Hawks have failed to score in their past three NLS fixtures with Chippenham.

The teams drew 0-0 in Wiltshire in February 2020 before Hawks were beaten 1-0 away and 2-0 at Westleigh Park last season.

That latter defeat, on the final day of the campaign, saw the Bluebirds leapfrog Hawks into claiming the final play-off place.