Hawks boss Doswell expecting injury crisis to have eased by Boxing Day

The Westleigh Park boss has been without a host of first team regulars in recent weeks, while suspensions have further reduced numbers.

But, despite that, Hawks have strung together an unbeaten run of five games to propel themselves into the National League South play-off zone.

And they have only played five home games so far, compared to eight away - a gap they will close in the next few days.

After welcoming fellow play-off hopefuls Dulwich Hamlet on Wednesday, Hawks are home again on Saturday to Bath City.

They only have one more league game after that - at Eastbourne Borough on December 11 - before travelling to Dorking on Boxing Day.

And it’s by that stage that Doswell is hoping his squad numbers appear far healthier.

‘I’m hopeful that Ross Worner, Alex Wall and Scott Rendell will be back for Dorking,’ he stated.

‘It’s just a case of trying to get through these next three league games.’

Worner has not played since a hip injury at Torquay in the FA Cup in mid-October, with striker Wall injured in the replay four days later. Rendell has been out since suffering a rib injury at Tonbridge in early November - leaving the squad with just two frontline strikers, Tommy Wright and James Roberts.

A few weeks ago, Doswell had been keen to bolster numbers with some loan additions. It now looks, though, as if Hawks will stick with what they’ve got.

‘Clubs don’t want to send their players out because they’ve got Papa John’s Trophy games every now and then,’ he commented.

‘We’ve asked lots of questions, but managers like to keep their players close to hand. And every week that goes by, we’re another week closer to getting players back.’

Doswell could well name an unchanged starting XI for the visit of fifth-placed Dulwich.

Loanee midfielder Leon Chambers-Parillon, who was on the bench for last Saturday’s FA Trophy exit at Slough, is out with tendonitis in an Achilles.

Benny Read and Nicky Bailey - two more subs at the weekend - need minutes but are far more likely to start in next Tuesday’s Hampshire Senior Cup trip to Eastleigh. Theo Widdringon and academy lad Theo Baker, who was also on the bench at Slough, should also feature at the Silverlake Stadium.

With Sam Magri out for the season and loanee Manny Adebowale and Jamie Collins injured, Doswell has been forced to play four at the back in recent games.

Paul Rooney has partnered Joe Oastler in central defence, but that will have to change against Bath as Rooney serves a one-game suspension for his red card at Slough. Collins, though, could be fit again by then.

Doswell is expecting a ‘terrific’ game against a Dulwich side who have won four of their six away league games this season.

He is also calling on Pompey fans to snap up one of the club’s Flexleigh tickets offering cut-price admission to all Hawks league games at Westleigh Park.

Previously, all Fratton Park season ticket holders could gain entry to a Hawks game for just £6.

But anyone can apply for a Flexleigh ticket, which gives a family of four admission for just £12 - £6 each for up to two adults and up to two under-16s admitted free.

Hawks have already handed out an initial 1,000 Flexleigh tickets, but club sponsors have now paid for more to be printed.

Youngsters in the Mid-Solent Youth League and Portsmouth Sunday Youth League have been given hundreds of tickets this season, while Hawks have also targeted local schools.

Next on their list is visiting all the junior schools in the Havant Borough Council area, including on Hayling Island.

The club’s hard work appears to be paying off, with a crowd of over 1,500 watching Hawks’ last home league game against Maidstone - though the visitors brought a good following too.

Dulwich provide the template Hawks would love to emulate. A succession of community-driven initiatives have resulted in Hamlet attracting crowds of over 3,000 to Champion Hill this season.

They are huge attendances at sixth tier level and Doswell is understandably envious.

‘Dulwich have a brilliant model,’ he said. ‘The crowds they get, it’s almost like a movement. I’ve got nothing but praise for them.

‘Those crowds have helped provide a good budget, they train full time and they have some dangerous players.’

Doswell, meanwhile, was not hugely concerned with Hawks’ FA Trophy exit.

‘We haven’t got the squad size to cope with a run in that competition at the moment,’ he stated.

As a result of going out at Slough, Hawks are without a competitive game on the last Saturday before Christmas. They will be in action, though, as Doswell has lined up a friendly against Crystal Palace U23s at the Eagles’ training ground.