Jason Bristow expects Basingstoke Town to bounce back (From This is Hampshire)

Jason Bristow expects Basingstoke Town to bounce back

1:50pm Thursday 13th September 2012 in Hampshire Sport By Graham Merry

BASINGSTOKE Town manager Jason Bristow is looking for his side to bounce back to winning ways as they head to Eastbourne this Saturday (kick-off 3pm).

Last weekend, the Dragons suffered their first defeat of the season as they went down 2-0 to AFC Hornchurch.

An easy excuse to make would be to blame it on Town’s increasing injury list, but Bristow is not going to use that excuse and said: “We did not play well on Saturday everyone was disappointed with the performance. It was flat in the dressing room and that was how we played. “I want us to put that right at Eastbourne. We are going through a sticky period, but we have to pull together and play with pride. I want us to turn in a performance and play some good football for our fans.”

Influential midfielder Shaun McAuley who played the last 20 minutes against Hornchurch could well start on the Sussex coast.

It is hopeful that shot stopper Ashley Bayes could well be back as well.

However, on the minus side is that Stuart Lake has broken his toe and expected to be out for at least a month.

He did this in the challenge for the penalty as he kicked the studs of Tambeson Eyong.

He joins Tim Sills, Delano Sam Yorke, Nathan Smart, Jordace Holder Spooner and Jidi Ogunbote currently on the sidelines.

Eastbourne themselves are also suffering from injuries and are in a bit of a rut at the moment hav¬ ing not scored in their last four outings and in the process they have lost their last three.

 Basingstoke’s away game at Staines which was abandoned due to heavy rain earlier this month, is set to be played on Tuesday, September 25. However, if either side need an FA Cup replay, then this game will have be rearranged again.