‘It’s really harsh’ – US Portsmouth boss Quirke unhappy with Wessex League for giving his side a midweek trip to Shaftesbury

USP aim to avoid a sixth successive Premier Division defeat when they travel to north Dorset to face Shaftesbury on Tuesday.

It is a 128-mile round trip from Portsea Island, with only Portland United (174-mile round trip) a longer one on their Wessex fixture list.

It would normally take anyone driving from Portsmouth to Shaftesbury and back around three hours on a good day.

A Tuesday night in October, with USP having to leave around tea time, is not a good day.

And Quirke is not happy. ‘The league have been really harsh,’ he told The News. ‘They’ve been a bit naive to do that to us.

‘I would like our players to be at the ground for 6.30, but some of them don’t finish work until 5.30.

‘That’s no way to prepare for a game at Shaftesbury. The roads are windy, it’s a difficult journey to do on a Saturday morning, let alone a Tuesday in rush hour. It’s going to be a real challenge for us.

‘The league have dropped a bit of a clanger here.’

It will be scant consolation for Quirke to learn that USP don’t have the longest Tuesday evening trip in the Wessex top flight. That ‘honour’ belongs to Blackfield & Langley who have been given a 141-mile round trip to Portland!

Simon Woods and Bradey Norton could be back in contention for USP in midweek after missing the weekend derby loss to Moneyfields through sickness.

Quirke is also hoping his son, midfielder Cameron, will be available. But striker Kelvin Mathe is definitely out after suffering a hamstring injury in the opening exchanges of a 3-0 Victory Stadium loss to Moneys.